


Hands To Myself

by irodeanOstrich (facemyJam)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: 'Lean on me' Nino, Badass Marinette, Emotional Support Alya, Evile Papillion, F/M, Protective Adrien, also i don't know how to name Akumas, and can anyone tell me how to get the accent over certain peoples names????, but i tried, i don't know how to write romances, we'll see the love square in action
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-05-24 11:28:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 46,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6152209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/facemyJam/pseuds/irodeanOstrich
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"So he allowed Nino to drag him away from the screams, away from the Akuma, away from the girl who was steadily overtaking his heart."</p><p>Marinette gets injured in an Akuma attack which makes Chat Noir feel protective. Le Papillion decides to take advantage of this, underestimating just how far this girl can go on her own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Start Of Things

**Author's Note:**

> as it states in the tags, i suck at romance, so bare with me here. Also, I LOVE MariChat because they both get to see sides that they wouldn't have. Mari gets to see that Chat has a serious side and Adrien gets to see Mari without her tripping over her words. I'm also a sucker for Adrien falling in love with Mari because shes BADASS, so hopefully i can write that in here well.

_The Akuma was coming right towards them, and at the last second Marinette pushed Chole out of the way, the arrow intended for the spoiled brat hit Marinette right in the shoulder. Instead of crying out in pain, the small girl just turned to the others behind her. "Run." she said, quiet as a whisper, but it was loud enough for those close. Marinette then turned to the Akuma, a small smile on her lips. She grabbed the arrow lodged in her shoulder, pulling it out with barely a flinch._

_The Akuma had his bow drawn, his sights set on a target behind the girl. Marinette called out to the Akuma, gaining his attention. "Hey! I'm still standing, loser!" she taunted as she slowly made her way towards him, arrow firmly grasped in her right hand._

_The Akuma then pointed his bow at the girl charging him, a battle cry in her throat and ice in her veins. The Akuma loosed his arrow at the same time Marinette attacked, striking the Akuma and releasing the corrupted butterfly trapped within._

_Before it could get away, Marinette grabbed it and shoved it in her purse, the victim slowly coming back to his senses. All around them, the rubble started to clear, and as her adrenaline slowly started to peter out, a stabbing pain came from her stomach. She looked down to see the arrow slowly disappearing from her midsection, but the wound was not healing._

_Marinette opened her purse to look for something to stop the bleeding, only to see a pure white butterfly flying out. Marinette-_

"Wait!" A voice cried out. Alya turned to her desk partner, a small frown on her lips. She was just getting to the good part.

"Alya, you do realize that none of that actually happened, right?" Marinette asked, a slight tint to her cheeks. The small crowd of kids around their desk gasped before looking back at Alya, disbelief in their eyes.

Alya balked, before smiling sheepishly. She awkwardly laughed, "I might have embellished a little of my story."

Marinette sighed. "A little? Alya, the Akuma Ladybug and Chat Noir fought didn't create arrows, it made bombs. Plus, I was nowhere near the action to destroy the Akuma, let alone capture it." The girl said as she carefully moved her left arm so as not to brush it against the desk. "Besides, I can't do what Ladybug does just by putting the butterfly in my purse. You've seen the inside of my purse! Does it look like I have a mystical magic de-Akumatizer in there?"

Alya rolled her eyes. "Girl, I was just trying to make your injuries seem cooler." At a glare from her best friend, Alya relented. "Not that the way you got your injuries weren't cool! It's just, I think my story was better. You're the main character, you sound bad-ass, and I was going to put in the end that Chat Noir fell head over heels in love with your and whisked you off into the sunset. After whisking you to the hospital, of course."

Marinette spluttered, but before she could say anything, and she had no idea exactly _what_ she was going to say, another voice spoke. "Oh, please, as if _anybody_ would fall for her. She's pathetic. I mean, going so far as to thrust herself in the spotlight just because of a little injury, puh-lease."

Marinette and those surrounding her desk looked over to see Chloe, a smirk on her face as she looked down at her fingernails, as if to say that even though she spoke, they were still beneath her. Off to the side was Sabrina leaning heavily on her crutches. Marinette felt bad for the girl. If Chloe's rant to Adrien were to be believed, then the poor red head had been on her feet all day yesterday at the mall, holding Chole's shopping bags.

"Are you okay Sabrina? Maybe you should sit down." Marinette voiced as she stood up to move towards the girl, ignoring Chloe's jab at her. Sabrina's eyes widened in surprise before nodding and hurrying to her desk, the crutches not slowing her down in the slightest.

Chloe made a sound of disgust. "Nino! Switch places with me! Sabrina's foot being propped on the desk will make me barf!" she said as she pushed the boy towards her seat. Before she could get him to her desk, though, the teacher came in.

Chloe let go of Nino in favor of ordering the teacher to let her switch seats. Nino rubbed the back of his neck. "Holy crap, dude! Chloe is scary strong!" he told Adrien who looked very sympathetic towards his friend. 

"Now you know why it's so hard to shake her off. She's a clinger." Adrien said lightheartedly, before turning to Marinette. "Are you sure you should be back? It's almost Christmas break, I don't think the teachers would fault you for not being here."

The girl would have tensed up at him speaking to her, but that would hurt her shoulder. Instead she just blushed heavily, not looking him in the eye. "I-I have two more exams left and I didn't want to miss them. Besides, tomorrow is-"

"Move!" Chloe said as she pushed Marinette out of the way. The girl gasped in pain, bending slightly at the waist. Alya steadied her before leveling a glare at Chloe. 

"I'm, I'm fine Alya." Marinette said as she brought her unbound hand to her left shoulder. She slowly wrapped her hand around her shoulder, being careful not to put too much pressure on her wound.

Chloe wrapped her arms around Adrien. "Oh, Adrien, fortunately enough, Mme. Bustier has agreed to let us sit together! Isn't that the best news you've ever heard?" 

Adrien was about to see if Marinette was alright when Mme. Bustier called the class to sit down. Before Adrien sat down in his seat, though, Alya asked if she could be moved up seeing as how her glasses prescription was close to expiring.

"Very well, Alya. Adrien, will you move back one spot?" Mme. Bustier asked him, which he emphatically agreed to. Chloe, on the other hand, was throwing a fit.

"Why can't both Alya and the other one move up? I need to sit with Adrien!" she roared, arms crossed with a look that promised payback. Mme. Bustier, it seems, was impervious to this look.

"Marinette is staying where she is, Chloe. She can't move about on the whims of a spoiled brat like you!" Alya shouted in Chloes face.

As Chloe and Alya continued to bicker, Marinette's breathing began to get louder, her eyes began to cloud over in pain. Adrien leaned over to ask if she needed something, when he saw blood on her hands. "Marinette?" he asked, he wanted her to respond, wanted her to say something. He reached out to her, but before he could touch her she picked her head up.

"I-I'm fine. I just need to sit down." she said, a small smile on her face. Even in the midst of her pain, she was trying to comfort him. She didn't sit down so much as she fell until she hit the chair. That small noise made Alya look over from her shouting match. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on Marinette's shoulder.

"Look at what you did!" Alya yelled before going over to Marinette. "Come on, _ma cherie_. It's time you go home." Despite her harsh volume when talking to Chloe, her tone when she turned towards Marinette was soft and gentle.

It told a lot about how much pain she was in, when Marinette didn't put up a fight about leaving school early. "I need....my tests....ask...home." she said in between gasps for air.

Alya nodded as she helped her friend to the door. "Of course. I'll bring them by later. Just concentrate on getting down those steps, alright?" Marinette responded, but it was too low for Adrien to hear. He turned to the teacher.

"Mme. Bustier, may I be excused to help them?" he asked, his phone in his hand already texting his driver. When she nodded, he ran out of the room to see them barely walking down the steps.

"Alya, I called my driver. He'll take us to Marinette's house." He said as he grasped Marinette's elbow through her sling. His grasp was solid yet gentle. Alya smiled at him over Marinette's ducked head.

They didn't have to wait for his driver to pull up seeing how slow Marinette's pace was. The Gorilla was barely phased as he opened the door for the three friends. He did, however, hand Adrien a first aide kit before closing the door behind them.

It didn't take long to reach the bakery, but it was agonizingly slow getting the girl up three flights of stairs. She kept apologizing to Alya and him for taking them out of school, for making them miss their exams, for getting blood on them. Alya played it off trying to lighten the mood, but Adrien told her sincerely that it was not a problem.

Sabine Dupain-Cheng helped Alya settle her daughter back in bed, while Adrien stood back. This gave him a chance to look around her room. He liked what he saw. He hadn't gotten a good look at it when he came over to practice for the gaming tournament, and as Chat Noir, he had only ever visited at night.

It was pink, that much he remembered, but as he's standing there, he realizes that his memory didn't quite capture just _how_ pink her room was. There were posters up of him, but some of them were covered over with designs and random pictures. Off to the side were two mannequins, one made to model male clothes and the other made to model female On the female one was crude mock up jacket that had pins placed sporadically around it. 

He liked her room. It felt warm and cozy. It was big enough for people, but small enough to give it that homey feel. His room was too big, too cold, too harsh. Hers was the complete opposite and he loved it.

After Marinette was looked over she took her pain medication, but her hand shot out to grab Alya's wrist with a surprising amount of speed for someone who was as groggy as Marinette. "Don't fight with Chloe when you get back. Please, Alya. I'm fine, okay?" Alya's eyes filled with tears, but she nodded. She could never refuse Marinette when she was like this, when she was hurting, when she easily forgave others.

Adrien and Alya waved goodbye before heading down with Sabine. She thanked them both for bringing Marinette home. "That girl is far too stuborn. I told her that I could go to the school to ask for the tests, but she wanted to be there."

Alya smiled at that. "She's like that. Helping others when they're hurt and refusing to see that she is. Did I ever tell you how we met?" She asks, directing the question at Adrien. He shakes his head as they walk onto the bakery floor. Sabine tells them to wait there as Alya begins to tell Adrien how she became best friends with Marinette.

"So it's summer break and I'm stuck babysitting my sisters at the park when some stupid ass punks come and start messing with Ellie, who is too shy to stick up for herself. Only, I can't just walk over to where she is because at the same time Veronique and Marie start fighting, and I don't mean yelling. So I have to break them up or face the consequences when my mom sees those two coming home with black eyes and split lips. I'm trying my hardest to get them to see that Ellie is in trouble when I hear a cry of pain." Alya stops her story when Sabine comes back out of the kitchen with a big box.

"For your class after the test. I know tomorrow is when we usually deliver Christmas goodies, but I just wanted to thank you two for bringing her home and didn't want to leave Nino and the rest in the lurch. I thought some sweets would perk them up."

"Oh! I hope you didn't put too many Tarte Tatin slices in here. You know how Nino gets after five." Alya joked as she grabbed the box.

Sabine laughed. "No, but I did mark off two pieces for him. They were made with him in mind." she said before waving them off.

Alya sighed, a small smile gracing her lips before it was wiped off. "I know I promised Marinette not to fight with Chloe, but I don't know if I can keep it." she said softly. Adrien almost didn't catch it, but he caught the faint traces of her voice. He grimaced. Chloe was misunderstood most of the time, but even he wouldn't defend her actions today.

He took a deep breath before prompting, "So you heard a cry of pain..". And just like that, Alya was grinning, a bounce in her step. Adrien preferred her this way.

"So I hear a cry of pain, which makes Veronique and Marie stop mid punch, though one of them manages to sock me in the gut. We turn to see the boys running off and a body on the ground. I leave my two idiot sisters to run to where the body is. I get there to see a girl I had never met lying there, and I realize she's lying on top of my crying Ellie. Before I could say anything, though, the girl jerks up off my sister, blood running down the side of her face, streaming out of her nose, trickling out of her lip. 

"She doesn't so much as wince we she smiles at Ellie. 'Are you okay?' she asks as if her face wasn't covered in blood. Ellie, sweet sweet Ellie who _refused_ to talk to anyone outside of our family, puts on the biggest smile I have ever seen her wear. She tells this girl, this stranger, that yes indeed she was okay. That what the girl did was the coolest thing she's ever seen, just babbling at her. So I kneel beside Ellie, who's still talking to the girl, and I look her over to see if she was hurt and pull her into my, hugging her to my chest. The girl looks at me and smiles- Adrien, I swear, Angels wept and were put to shame when she smiled at me- and she says, 'Did you know you have the bravest sister?'.

"I respond automatically by saying that yes, of course, I have a brave sister, when really I'm wondering exactly what happened. So I ask, and she says that those boys were bothering her, _her_ , and that Ellie stepped in and told them off. She says that Ellie was really giving them a good lashing, when one of them throws a rock at her. So the girl says she felt like she had to return the favor by saving her saviour. And while she's saying this, Ellie's just giggling in my lap, laughing away at what this stranger is saying.

"Meanwhile I'm in tears trying to come up with a way to say thank you to this girl when her phone rings. She says she has to go, but she hopes that we're all okay. I mean, blood is caked on her face and she's hoping that _we're_ okay. Us, who don't have a single scratch. I'm telling you, I fell a little bit in love with her that day.

Anyways, flash forward to a couple of days to the first day of school and as I sit down, who walks in but a girl with gauze and plaster all over her face. She sits next to me and smiles. 'You're Ellie's sister, right?' she asks. 'How is she?' and I just start bawling. I'm talking straight up just crying my eyes out on the first day of school. I thank her, but she just waves it off. So I ask her for her name and she tells me, 'I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng, would you like to have lunch with me?' and _that_ is how I become friends with the kindest human being on the planet."

Adrien laughs at that. "You're quite the story teller, Alya. You should consider becoming a novelist or something." Alya smiles.

"I'm going to become the best investigative journalist there ever was. Maybe I'll write a few autobiographies once I rise to fame." Alya considers as they walk back up the their classroom.

Before they go inside, Alya thanks him for helping with Marinette. "Of course," he says. "She's my friend too. I don't like seeing her hurt." Alya looks like she's going to say something, but changes her mind. 

"Let's go blow Nino's mind." she grins, holding up the box of sweets. Adrien returns the grin, already imagining Nino crying as he shoves his face with the Tarte Tatin.


	2. Père Noël

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some Christmas fluff because I miss the holiday and I had this written before I decided to write this fic as a whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, for those of you who want to know, I just split the thing into chapters and we find out how Marinette gets hurt in the sixth chapter. As for how many chapters this fic will be....well, I don't really know. What I /do/ know is that I'm about halfway through with writing it, so /maybe/ twelve chapters, but DO NOT hold me to that. It could be shorter or longer depending on my muse.

The next day of school comes much too quickly for Adrien's liking. Plagg teases him that the only reason he doesn't want to go is because the nice smelling human won't be there. This makes Adrien pause. 

"Wait, what?" he asks as the Gorilla pulls up to the mansions steps.

Plagg comes around to face him once they're inside the limo. "The nice smelling human. The one that always smells like baked bread and cheese. Hmm, cheese."

"Why would you say that?" As soon as those words leave his mouth he instantly knows he doesn't want to know what Plagg has to say.

"Because you like her." the Kwami says simply.

"Well, yeah, of course I like her, she's my friend." Adrien responds, which makes the Kwami smirk.

"Yeah, but you liiiiiike her." he sing-songs as he spins around in front of Adrien.

"What?! No! I like Ladybug. I only see Marinette as a friend!" But his words fell on deaf ears.

Adrien is still grumbling to the Kwami as he steps out of the limo to be greeted by the sight of Nino and Alya. They have their heads bowed together, words flinging back and forth between them.

"Hey guys. I didn't think you would be this early to school on the last day." Nino and Alya whip their heads around to face him.

"I just want to see how she's going to pull it off this year." Alya says cryptically.

"Who?" Adrien asks.

"Père Noël, of course." she replies, the 'duh' being implied.

He's still confused, but leaves off his questions. Instead he just follows them up the stairs to their classroom. Today was more of a party day than anything else he was told. But when he asked why there were no decorations, the class just laughed at him. Even Chloe shook her head at him. It was like they were in on some big joke and he wasn't.

When they entered the room all three of their jaws dropped to the floor. "I _swear_ that girl is magic!" Alya shouts as she whips out her phone and starts taking pictures.

The classroom when he left yesterday was devoid of Christmas decorations. He had overheard several people sighing dejectedly and saying that their Christmas party this year was going to suck. He didn't understand why they hadn't just decorated the room themselves, but now, now he knew.

The room was transformed into a Winter Wonderland. Beautifully cut out snowflakes hung from the ceiling, taped to the walls and windows, fake snow joining the snowflakes on the window panes. Tinsel was strewn from the rafters and at the back of the room a table was set up. A mini Christmas tree fully decked out in lights and heavy with ornaments with what looked to be the faces of the class on them, was off to the side. A punch bowl was off to the other side with plates and cups to the right, colourful napkins stacked to the left. A giant platter of Christmas cookies sat in the center, with a cake that looked like it was still steaming beside it.

The best part? On their desks sat a stack of presents where everyone sat. There were only two places empty, though. One was Marinette's place, and the other was where Chloe sat. Before he could do anything else but gape at the set up, the rest of the class burst through the door, their cheers shaking him from his stupor.

Adrien turned to Nino who was laughing and jumping on the balls of his feet. "What- Who did all this?" he asked as he looked over the room again.

"Oh man!" Nino said as he slapped his forehead. "I keep forgetting you weren't here last year!" This statement pulled Alya away from gushing over every single decoration piece.

"Oh right! You've never experienced a Marinette Christmas Party before!" she said as Adrien's eyes bulged.

"Marinette set this up? How?!" He asked, which was then reciprocated by several others, but they asked with awe.

"Magic!" Alya replied as she grinned at Adrien's expression.

"I honestly don't know! She refuses to tell us how she does it! I even staked out the school one year to see her in action!" Alya laughed.

"I remember that! You made me and Kim tag along!" Nino cried out as he laughed at the memory.

Kim, who heard his name, made his way over with Alix, both of them had cookies shoved in their mouths and more clenched in their fists. "What's that, now?" he asked around the cookie, spewing crumbs on the floor.

Nino didn't seem to mind. "Remember when Alya made us stakeout the school to catch Mari in action?" 

Kim's face lit up. "Oh yeah! I fell asleep at midnight and you two contracted food poisoning because the food you brought," he pointed at Alya, "was expired! Man I woke up to you two barfing in the bushes right next to my head!"

Alix grinned at that. "I remember that, too. You guys had to miss the party to go to the hospital, and Kim spent the whole break sick in bed!" Kim shoved Alix as she laughed at that.

"Marinette does this every year?" he asked Alya, who proceeded to laugh at him. He was getting tired of people laughing in his face.

"The party? Yes. The gifts? No. She usually gets us small gifts throughout the year, which we treat as Christmas gifts. What we _do_ get every year is a personalized box filled with our favourite sweets. I guess she was too busy this year to give them to us personally." Alya said with a shrug. Adrien nodded at what she told him. He was glad to know that Marinette didn't go to these extremes every year. That would be kind of intimidating if she did. Actually, that would be _a lot_ terrifying if she did.

By the time Mme. Mendeleiev entered, the party was in full swing. Adrien thought she would snap at them to be more quiet, but instead she smiled softly and shook her head before heading to the back table and promptly using her status as a teacher to cut in line, snatching cookies and a slice of cake. The class settled down enough to open their presents and Adrien took in what each of them got.

Juleka got a new pair of black gloves, beautifully made with stitching on the palm of the right glove that was bright pink and in the shape of a rose. She traced the rose in awe, a smile on her face.  
Rose got a smart looking book bag that was decorated with a giant purple rose in the center and purple stitching along the edges. She, too, traced the rose, but her smile took over her whole face. She immediately shook out her old book bag and placed her books and files in the new one.  
Max got a blanket that depicted his and Marinette's gaming win. He draped it around his shoulders and pinned it there with a game controller shaped pin that was also included.  
Nathaniel got a new sketchpad and some fancy looking colour pencils. The first couple of pages were already used, Marinette had made a comic of her and Nathaniel walking along the Seine and coming across some Mistletoe where she kissed his cheek. He kept staring at the last panel as he ate the holiday cookies on his plate, being mindful of the crumbs.  
Mylene got a new head band and a bunch of pins that had various pictures on them. She chose some pins to place on the new head band before putting it on over her old head band. One was her and Ivan holding hands, the other was a cartoonist rendering of Mylene as the Horrificator with bubble letters surrounding the edge that said 'Too Cute For You'.  
Ivan got a pair of pants and several shirts that had band logos on them. He held one of the shirts up to his chest and smiled in surprise when it spread over his broad shoulders without stretching the fabric material.  
Alix got the banner that Marinette made when she had her race with Kim, except **WINNER!** in capital letters was printed across the top of it. Her little stitched version was standing with her chest puffed out and her hand displaying a 'v' for victory. Alix taunted Kim with it, but it wasn't harsh or cruel.  
Kim got another banner from the race, but his said **LOSER!** and his little stitched version looked like a video game character that got killed, complete with x's where the eyes should be and his tongue sticking out. Kim, despite frowning at the banner when he first unfurled it, was now smugly reminding everyone that his ban was almost over.  
Sabrina got a beret type hat that had Angel wings on either side that sparkled in the light. She gingerly placed it on her head and was currently taking a bunch of selfies at different angles to capture the wings shimmer.  
Nino got a plush doll set up of him and Akumatized Alya. There were sitting together and holding a banner that said DJWifi with a heart at the end. There was a 'push me' button on one of plush Nino's headphones which the produced a snippet of a song that made Nino and Alya make heart eyes at each other.  
Alya got a new jacket and gloves that was modeled after Ladybugs look. The zipper pull was a yo-yo that opened up and had Ladybugs signature inside it. She instantly had it on and zipped up, modeling it for Adrien and Nino while simultaneously playing with the many pockets of the jacket.

Adrien himself opened the top box to see several t-shirts that had puns on them with little cartoons depicting them. His dad would never allow him to wear something like this, and that was what made them perfect. He shrugged off his opened button up shirt and put on one that said 'I'm a Cat-ch' with a proud calico cat sitting on a brick wall.

As Alya gushed about her new jacket, a knock at the door drew everyone's attention to the giant crowding the doorway. Tom Dupain-Cheng stood there waving at the class. "Enjoying the fruits of my labor?" he joked.

Alya gasped. " _You_ put up the decorations this year?!" 

Tom laughed. "Well my Mari was in no proper condition to do it. Although she put up one heck of a fight!" His laughter bounced off of the walls and spurred everyone to join him.

"Her mother and I had to drug her to come down here and set it up. She was awake when we came back." He elaborated, shivering dramatically, a smile on his face.

"May I ask why you're back?" Alya asked politely, but her tone held a note of teasing.

"I come bearing more gifts!". The sentence was followed by him pulling out two large bags of chocolate covered popcorn from behind his back. Alya screamed and tore one of the bags from Tom's hands before Adrien could even blink. Seeing as how no one scolded Alya for hogging a bag to herself, Adrien assumed this was a normal thing.

"Oh! I almost forgot. Chloe Bourgeois? My daughter says that shes sorry your present wasn't here when you arrived. She had trouble wrapping it with only one hand." Tom said as he placed two boxes in front of the scowling girl. Her eyes had widened when Tom said she had a present, but quickly masked it with indifference. Tom passed out the other bag of popcorn before taking his leave. 

One of the boxes was really tiny, but the other one was rectangular and wrapped in gold wrapping paper. Chloe set aside the small box carefully, before opening the golden present. She gasped softly as she saw it's contents. Hesitantly, as if afraid of breaking whatever was nestled inside, she reached in and brought out a card that was blank on the outside. 

Chloe read the card before setting it on the edge of her desk and smiling softly at the present. The card fell off her desk and floated over to where Adrien was sitting. He picked it up and read the inside.

_'Chloe, we do not see eye to eye, but I wish you the best._  
P.S. the back of the mirror says 'May those who gaze upon this glass, Find the peace within the lasts'. _I hope this comes true for you,  
Marinette'_

Adrien smiled at that before setting it back on Chloe's desk. He turned to Nino in time to hear him say to Alya, "You know, you're getting that all over your brand new jacket." He looked up at the girl to see her eyes widen in panic , her cheeks bulging from the amount of popcorn shoved in her mouth and chocolate surrounding her lips.

He laughed as Alya handed the bag over to Nino glaring at him as a warning not to touch her 'precious precious chocolat'. Once she delicately folded her jacket back in the box it came in, she grabbed the popcorn bag back from the laughing Nino.

Adrien knew that this was one of the best days of his life. He was sad that Marinette wasn't here to join in on the fun, but he was happy and it was, in no small part, thanks to her.

"Are we going to see Mari after this?" He asked his two friends who, while his mind drifted, had started to throw popcorn at each other.

Alya lit up even more. "Of _course_! I gotta hang with my girl! Especially since she got me Ladybug's signature! I have to interrogate her to find out how she got it!" the girl screamed.

"She ran after me for an hour before I saw her. She was out of breath when she asked me to autograph that. I thought it was an odd thing to sign, but now that I look at it, I have to admit, she has an eye for detail."

Everyone turned their heads as Ladybug- _Ladybug_ \- was leaning against the door frame.

She held her hands up to ward everybody to stay in their seats. "I'm sorry, I can't stay long. I just came by to check up on Marinette, but it seems like she's not here."

Alya was grinning so hard it _had_ to have hurt. "She came yesterday, but the stitches in her shoulder popped back open so she was forced to stay home."

"Oh? Well maybe I'll just give her a visit." A ring from her yo-yo made her open it to see what the message was. Adrien got ready to think of an excuse in case it was an Akuma attack, but whatever it was made Ladybug smile.

"I'm sorry, I'm needed elsewhere. I hope everyone has a good Christmas." She said as she gave a two finger salute to the class before sauntering out.

Everyone sat there stunned for a couple of seconds before it finally registered that Ladybug, _the_ Ladybug, had just visited their classroom. Sure, she had been in the school a couple of times to deal with Akumas, but she hadn't ever really _talked_ to the students before. "Ugh, Marinette's so lucky!" Alya groaned as she draped herself across her desk.

"She tracked a superhero for a full hour to get you her signature. I think _you're_ the one who's lucky." Nino pointed out. Alya just stuck her tongue out at him instead of giving a verbal response.  
\--  
He felt so alone in his room that was shoddily decorated that he went for a run as Chat Noir. Just to clear his head, he had told Plagg, but the Kwami gave him a knowing look.

He tried to just roam around, to bask in the cold winter night, but his mind (and his heart) was tugging him towards Marinette, towards a comfy, _warm_ place. He tried to play it off like he was just doing a nightly patrol and just so happened to be in the neighborhood, but the girl just stared at him with her piercing blue eyes that could see right through him. 

She smiled at him before rolling her eyes. "Come on, Chat. You don't have to pretend with me. You can say that you wanted to check up on me." she said as she settled back down in her bed. She was surrounded by pillows and blankets. It looked as if she was in the middle of a nest. A very comfortable looking nest. A very _warm_ , comfortable looking nest.

He shook that thought from his mind as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, Princess. I just didn't want you to think that I was spying on you." he said as he sat down on the other side of her bed, crossing his legs and snatching a pillow to hold in his lap.

She giggled. "I didn't think that, but _now_..." she left off, side eyeing him with a smirk on her face to let him know that she was teasing him.

He pretended to pout, burying half his face in the pillow. Marinette giggled again before kicking out with her foot to nudge his knee.

"I have a present for you." She says once she has his attention again. (As if he could ever ignore her).

His ears perked up at this. "You do?" He looked around excitedly for a box or bag wondering if it would be more holiday cookies.

"You look more like a puppy than a cat, right now." she commented as she took out a slim box from underneath her covers. So she was expecting him, which was, well, _expected_ , seeing as how Ladybug dropped by.

He took it from her, his claws making short work of the wrapping paper. Inside was a dark blue scarf decorated with little black cats with their tails in the air. He grinned as he put it on, but something was familiar about the feel of the wool. He rubbed it on his exposed cheek, a frown on his face as he tried to place its familiarity.

"Is something wrong?" Marinette asked, her eyebrows pinched in worry. She was leaning forward some, as if getting closer would reveal something.

Chat Noir quickly smiled, dropping the scarf and his hand. "No, no. I was just wondering what the wool felt like since I can't really feel it with my hands." He said placating-ly, wiggling his hands in front of her. She smiled at that as she laid back into her pillows.

"Well, I'm glad you like it. I made one for Ladybug as well, since it's getting colder. I didn't know if your suits kept out the cold or not, and I'm far too injured to try to make you jackets, but I can knit. Well, _barely_ knit." she explained as she wiggled her left arm slightly.

"Oh no worries. Our suits can keep out the worst of it. At least, mine can. But the wind _can_ be quite harsh on my face, so the scarf is purrfect. Thank mew!" Chat Noir said with a grin on his face.

Marinette smiled through the pain of his puns before yawning really loud. "It seems my pain pills are kicking in. You should leave while I'm still talking. Earlier I fell asleep on my mom mid-conversation." She didn't want him to go, his presence was a comfort, but she didn't want him to stay just to have her fall asleep on him.

Chat Noir bid her goodbye, but not before playfully tucking her in and kissing her forehead. "Goodnight, my Princess." He whispered.

"Goodnight, my Alley Cat."


	3. The Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> here we catch a quick glimpse at the new Akuma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so i put my fic through a word counter and realised that some of my chapters are /really/ short....i guess they felt longer to me because i wrote and rewrote and edited them.... i'll try making them longer, but sometimes the cut off line is just *kiss fingers like a stereotypical french chef* so i leave it as the chapter cliff hanger.

Christmas break was nothing of the sort for Adrien. His schedule was so full of meetings and photo shoots and events to attend, he was starting to miss his big empty room. Even Plagg was grumpy despite the vast amounts of cheese he was rewarded with. His Kwami was not happy being cooped up, be it in Adrien's jacket or a bag, and the black cat had no qualms in expressing his complaints.

The few times he's been able to hang out with Nino were spent at Adriens house because Nino's extended family was vacationing in France and didn't want to spend money on hotel rooms. When Adrien expressed his thoughts on wanting to go back to school, Nino sympathized with him. His friend knew how hectic his schedule was without school to act as a buffer.

They hung out with Alya a couple of times, but Marinette was always busy with either helping her parents out at the bakery, or at her physical therapists office. Alya told them that Marinette was getting better, that she didn't have to wear the sling anymore, that her leg wound was now a faint scar. And while he appreciated the news of Marinette, he still missed her. He hadn't been able to patrol at night with how exhausted he was whenever he came home, so he couldn't have visited her as Chat Noir.

But now that Christmas break was ending, his work load steadily decreased, enough so that one night he was feeling the need to stretch his legs. Plagg readily flew into the ring, the first time Adrien could remember him doing that, and a couple of minutes later, Chat Noir was clambering over rooftops and taking in the scenery.

He was able to do a full sweep of the city in an hour, him rushing through certain areas and not stopping to horse around with some of the locals who were still out and about. What he really wanted to do was see Marinette, so he hurried to where her family's bakery was and landed on her balcony. 

Her light was on in her room so he took that as an invitation to drop in through the skylight window. He landed on her bed with a solid thump, thankful that she was not on it. In fact, she wasn't even in her room.

He spread out his senses to hear her coming up the stairs. He quickly spread himself out on her bed, posing for her in a theatrical manner as her head popped up from the trap door. She was carrying a basket of laundry, which she set aside when she saw him on her bed. Chat Noir frowned at her lack of reaction to his being there.

"Hello there, Princess!" he greeted, still lounging on her bed. Marinette smiled softly at him. 

"Hello there, Chatty Cat." she replied with one of her nicknames for him. She sat down at her desk, spinning the chair until it faced him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He grinned as he sat up, crossing his legs and snatching up a pillow to set in his lap, much like the last time he was here. "I hadn't come to visit you in a while and wanted to check up on you. See how you were, and all that."

She moved her left arm about. "I'm doing a lot better. The doctors said I had some minor nerve damage, but I'm seeing a physical therapist who said that if I worked on my exercises and stuck with them then my hand and arm should be as good as new."

Chat Noir got off her bed and gingerly held her arm as he examined it. Her hand was shaking slightly, but as he worked his way up to her elbow he saw that her whole arm was shaking as well. "Will it always be like this?" he asked quietly as he inspected the scar on her shoulder. It was shiny and indented, but at least it was no longer just a scab.

Marinette shook her head. "Not if I focus on my exercises. They're to rebuild the damaged muscle and help get back my fine motor skills." she said as she took back her arm.

"I'm just glad it wasn't my right hand that was injured. I hate feeling useless, and with my right arm being out of commission, that would've been a nightmare."

Chat stepped back from her space, aware just how close he was. "While I'm glad you are feeling better, you just have to say the word, and I'll be there. After all, I am your knight, Princess." He finished the sentence off with an over the top bow.

Marinette rolled her eyes at his antics. "Silly kitty cat," she said fondly as she reached out and ruffled the hair between his cat ears, "I thought cats only came when they wanted?"

"I'll always want to come when you call." he whispered as he leaned into her touch. Their eyes met and it was like the world around them faded. He could feel his breath quickening, a blush spreading evenly under his mask. He felt himself leaning, leaning, gravitating towards her, when suddenly Marinette took back her hand and smiled at him.

"That's a nice sentiment, kitty cat." Her hushed tone made him realise that she was just as affected as he was. Chat felt disappointment run through him before guilt set in. _Why am I feeling disappointed?It's not like I_ wanted _her to kiss me....right?_.

"Since you've given me this power over you, I'll be sure to abuse it." Marinette continued, her teasing tone pulling him from his thoughts.

"As you wish." he responded, a slight smirk on his lips.

"Well then, it seems to me that it is rather late," Marinette said, her breath coming out in a pant. "I shall see you out." She moved to go to the skylight, but Chat cut her off.

"There's no need for that, Princess. This alley cat knows his way around." He added a wink before he bowed once more and quickly scampered up the ladder that led to the skylight.

Once Marinette was alone in her room, she let down her hair and got ready for bed. Her demeanor seemed calm, but on the inside she was freaking out. It seemed to her that Chat had wanted to, was going to, _kiss_ her. _Her_. Plain Marinette, not Ladybug.

As she pulled back her covers, she frowned. She didn't know what to think of that. On the one hand, Chat Noir had only showed interest for Ladybug. On the other, she _was_ Ladybug, so it could be said it was a natural progression for him to fall in love with Marinette as well. But he didn't _know_ Marinette was Ladybug and, frankly, she didn't know if she wanted him to.

Marinette knew that Chat Noir would love Ladybug no matter what, and by extension, Marinette, but she didn't want him to love Marinette just because he was in love with Ladybug. It would feel like he was loving her out of duty, all the while thinking only of her clad in her red black-spotted spandex. She knew he felt deeply for Ladybug, but she didn't really know how he felt for Ladybugs' civilian self, her regular self.

Despite Tikki's many explanations that _she_ was Ladybug, Marinette couldn't help but feel like they were two seperate people. No one knew she was the same person, and sometimes she had to refer to herself in the third person, so it felt to her like they _were_. Ladybug was strong, courageous, beautiful. Marinette was quiet, meek, diligent.

She shook those thoughts from her mind as she turned out her light. She had a long day tomorrow of working in her parents' bakery, she needed all the rest she could get.  
\--  
Adrien was nervous and he knew he shouldn't be, but he was. Today was the first day back at school, which meant it would be the first time since before the break he would see Marinette. He spent time with her as Chat Noir, but now he would see her again as Adrien, and that was different to him, somehow. 

Maybe it was because she was fun and sassy when she was with Chat and quiet and shy when she was with Adrien. Maybe it was because he knew things about her now that he, as Adrien, shouldn't know. Maybe it was because he was starting to realise that his palms got sweaty whenever she was around. That his heart raced and ached and soared all at the same time whenever she smiled at him. Maybe it was because his feelings for her were starting to eclipse those of Ladybug.

Plagg, as his helpful self, suggested on Adrien confessing his feelings for Marinette. He didn't know if could, though. What if Marinette was only nice to him because she was nice to everyone? What if Marinette actually hated him? Why else would she run away whenever he tried to talk to her? Why else would she turn away when he waved or said hello to her?

"First day back!" Nino yelled as he threw his arm around Adrien effectively getting him out of those thoughts.

Adrien turned to his friend and grinned weakly. "Yeah." he said dejectedly, his thoughts still circling in his mind. Nino frowned at that.

"You okay, man? I thought you would be happy to have school be an excuse not to model." the boy said as he struck an exaggerated model pose.

Adrien huffed a small laugh. "Yeah, sorry. I guess I'm still tired. Yesterday I had to do several shows back to back." Well, that _and_ fight off a new Akuma. His tailbone was still sore from being tossed around by his tail.

Nino winced. "Oof. That's harsh. Hopefully your dad will let you take a break from being pretty in front of a camera so we can hang out." This made Adrien laugh more sincerely.

"Sure, sure. And maybe Chloe will stop making people Akuma victims." he said with a roll of his eyes, glad that Nino was such an understanding friend.

Nino made a noncommittal noise at that, before his eyes lit up. "There she is, the light of my life. Look at how hot she looks when mad." Adrien turned his head to gaze at Alya who stood with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. She was glaring at an upperclassman, who just shrugged her off and walked away.

He spotted Marinette trying to calm her friend down and was glad to see that her left arm was not shaking at all. "Yo, Alya! Marinette!" Nino shouted as he quickened his pace until he stood in front of the two.

Alya just sighed before plastering a big smile on her face. "Hey there cutie." she cooed as the two embraced and lightly kissed. Marinette gave Adrien a look as if to say 'be glad it isn't worse than this'. Adrien smiled at her. 

"Hey Marinette. It's good to see you again." he spoke softly, trying not to startle the girl. She smiled up at him, and oh, how his heart ached.

"It's nice to see you too, Adrien. I h-hope you had a go-good break." Her smile dimmed some as she stuttered, but she held his gaze, which bolstered Adrien's mood.

"I wish I could say it was good, but my dad had me working every day. I _never_ want to hear the question 'So how's school?' _ever_ again." Adrien fake shuddered. Marinette laughed at that.

" _Speaking_ of school..," she petered off with a slight smirk on her face. Adrien raised an eyebrow, a smile forming on his face.

"Wh-" he started, but an explosion cut him off. The ground beneath them shook as Adrien and his friends fell on the concrete below them. Screams assaulted thier ears as they turned towards the front steps of the school.

 **"WHERE IS HE??! I KNOW HE'S HIDING HERE SOMEWHERE!"** a voice shouted above the noise. Adrien helped Nino to his feet as Alya did the same to Marinette. They backed away from the school building as the voice drew closer to them.

 **"ADRIEN AGRESTE! WHERE ARE YOU??".** Beside him Nino gasped, his grip in Adriens arm tightening.

He could feel the eyes of his friends fall to him. "We need to get you out of here. We need to hide you." Marinette whispered. "Nino, take him- take him...somewhere. I don't know, somewhere you feel safe, but _not_ to any of our houses. Alya, come with me. We need to distract the Akuma until Nino and Adrien are a safe distance away." Marinette said in a calm voice.

The two girls were already making there way inside before Adrien could call out a protest. Nino urged him in the opposite direction. "Come one man, we got to get you out of here. I know where we can go." And with that, Adrien could hardly shrug his friend off without explaining that he was Chat Noir. So he allowed Nino to drag him away from the screams, away from the Akuma, away from the girl who was steadily overtaking his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i know it seems rushed and everything, but thats because im trying to get to the actual Le Papillion/Hawk Moth threatening Marinette's life and such (the actual plot), but i /could/ slow it down a little in certain instances....i'll look the finished chapters over to see if i can elaborate or add scenes. let me know what you think!!! input is greatly valued!!


	4. Something New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya freaks out and Chat Noir is protective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SUPER DUPER SHORT BUT THE NEXT ONE IS LONGER I SWEARS IT DON'T YELL AT ME I AM VULNERABLE!!!!!  
> also so i have several other aus and such about these nerds, if anyone wants to hear them just message me. i'll try to develope them after i finish writing this one! also, as we near the sixth chapter, im going to be cutting back on posting these everyother day because i have slight writers block and having that kind of pressure on me will be counterproductive! sorry, i know! but once i get a chapter done i'll post it right away! sound fair???? no? too bad, sorry!

Marinette and Alya split up as soon as they hit the school courtyard. They agreed that if either ran into the Akuma that they would distract it, but run if it seemed as if they would get hurt. Little did Alya know that Ladybug would arrive shortly after she parted ways with her friend.

The Akuma was still roaring about Adrien, and when Ladybug arrived at where it was throwing a hissy fit, she could see why. The Akuma had overtaken a young girl, one who was probably heartbroken over Adrien. From what Ladybug could see, the girl was quite large- even for an Akuma. This is what had probably set her off, Ladybug theorized as she stepped up in front of the Akuma.

"I hear you're looking for someone famous. Mind if I tag in, instead?" She asked as a way to get the Akuma's attention.

The girls head whipped around to where Ladybug stood. **"I AM LA DESTRUCTRICE! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!"** Destructrice said, her mouth frothing in her rage.

Ladybug saw a purple outline appear over her face and knew instantly that Le Papillion was communicating with her. Whatever he was saying, though, La Destructrice was not happy.

"Whatever he promised, whatever he offered, it's a lie! He's using you! Using your feelings to manipulate you into doing his bidding!" Ladybug shouted to the girl as she looked for the object the Akuma was hiding in.

La Destructrice shook her head. **"ENOUGH! I WILL NOT LISTEN TO EITHER OF YOU! I _WILL_ GET WHAT I WANT!"** She clapped her hands together, sending out a shock wave that knocked Ladybug off her feet and flung her into the wall several meters behind her. 

When she got up and shook the ringing from her ears, La Destructrice was gone.  
\--  
Nino roughly shoved Adrien into a side alley a couple of streets away from the school. Despite what Marinette had told him, Nino had wanted to go see if the girls were safe. "Just stay here, I'll go see if Marinette and Alya are safe. Stay hidden!" His friend told him, his tone brokering no arguments.

Adrien didn't listen, though. As soon as he felt that Nino was away, he transformed into Chat Noir and raced back to where the Akuma was last seen. As he looked around, he spotted Alya looking around as well, her face full of worry, and her ears dripping blood. He stopped in front of her.

"Alya, are you okay?" he asked, but the girl never looked at him long enough for him to gauge an answer on his own. 

"Marinette, where are you?" she whispered, her gaze growing more frantic as the pig-tailed girl didn't appear.

Chat grabbed Alya by her shoulders, forcing the girl to look at him. "What happened?" His voice coming out harsher than he intended. She squinted at him, tilting her head from left to right. Chat realized that her ears were probably hurt by whatever powers the Akuma possessed so he directed her gaze back to the school where injured people were gushing out of the front doors.

"We- Marinette and I went to distract the Akuma so our friend could get away, but we split up. I-I found it, but before I could get close she- she clapped her hands together and threw me into a wall. Ladybug was there, but by the time I came to, both were gone. I- I can't find her! _Marinette!_ " As Alya went on in telling her story she grew more and more upset, her eyes welling up with tears. She shouted Marinette's name a couple of more times, each one louder than the last, her voice going hoarse as she panicked. 

He didn't want to leave her, but he had a job to do so Chat Noir left her with a paramedic who whisked the blogger away to a waiting ambulance. He glanced back at the school, but discarded looking for Marinette. It would just waste time he could be spending helping Ladybug deal with the Akuma. Besides, other people would be looking for her as well.

With one final look at the building, Chat Noir took out his baton and ran off in the direction where more shouts were coming from.  
\--  
The shock wave threw both Marinette and Tikki through a loop, and after a minute of chasing the Akuma, Tikki needed a slight break. In truth, she was feeling shook up herself, but she had a job to do, though she didn't want to repeat what happened with Le Bombardier, so she stayed in the shadows as she followed in the destructive wake of the Akuma. 

She didn't seem to take a direct path, and Marinette realised that the girl probably had no idea where Adrien was. _Hopefully it stays that way_ , she thought as she scrambled into another alley.

Unfortunately, she wasn't as quick as she thought she was and the Akuma shot a hand out and grabbed her in a crushing hold. **"YOU!"** she exclaimed as she brought Marinette closer to her face.

 **"YOU KNOW WHERE ADRIEN AGRESTE IS, DON'T YOU?"** She shook the hand that held Marinette in it. **"TELL ME WHERE HE IS!".**

"I- I don't know! Honestly! We're not that close, you know." Marinette tried to explain. The Akuma clenched her hand tighter around her waist as she said this, clearly not pleased with her answer.

 **"DON'T LIE TO ME! I KNOW YOU ARE FRIENDS! NOW, TELL ME WHERE HE IS!".** It seemed La Destructrice was not going to take any other answer then _'Here, let me take you to him!'._

Marinette shook her head vigorously. "I- I don't know! We split up when you were in the school, I _swear!_ " Her lungs felt like they were on fire, blackness crept along the edges of her sight. She needed air.

"Leave her alone!" a voice shouted from her left. Marinette angled her head to see Chat Noir standing with his baton pointed directly at the Akuma, his chest rising and falling in heated pants. His eyes met hers and she could see in them the struggle to not just immediately attack the Akuma.

 **"SHE IS GOING TO TELL ME WHERE ADRIEN AGRESTE IS!"** La Destructrice told him, pulling the hand that held her further from where Chat was standing.

"I- I know where he is! I'll take you to him, you just need to let her go!" Chat Noir promised, his eyes never leaving Marinette.

"Chat....what are you...doing?" Marinette asked, her lungs protesting the loss of precious air.

 **"YOU KNOW WHERE HE IS? YOU SWEAR IT?!"** the Akuma asked, her voice holding a semblance of hope.

"Yes! _Yes!_ I swear it! Now, _please_ , let her go!" Chat said hurriedly, his arm outstretched as Marinette passed out.

La Destructrice put Marinette's prone form on the ground, and Chat wasted no time in rushing over to her. "Princess?" he asked quietly, trying to wake her up to see if she was alright.

"I'm...fine..Chat. Go...stop her." Marinette said as she slowly regained consciousness. Chat Noir looked like he didn't want to leave her, but she gave him a weak smile which he returned. 

"I'll be back for you." He said before he parted with a wink. A few minutes after he left, Tikki reemerged from her hiding place. 

"Ready to go, Ladybug?" she asked, trying to gauge if Marinette should really be moving right now.

The pig-tailed girl just gave her Kwami a grin. "Ready, Tikki."

"Are you sure, Marinette? You don't look so good."

I'm fine, Tikki. My ribs are sure to be bruised- as well as my pride- but I'm good to go. Besides, you know that all my injuries disappear when I put on the suit." Tikki frowned at that, but quickly went into the Miraculous as Marinette invoked the magic words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i soooo wanted le destructeur and mari to just sit down and gush about how absolute perf Adrien is but alas, i needed mari hurt for this to work, so sorry mari, but you are being used as a stereotypical damsel in distress plot device :(


	5. On My Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fluffy sin, is that a thing???

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay guys, after the sixth cahpter, I'm cutting down the updates to once a week....haven't chosen a day yet, but I'll let you know once the sixth chapter hits :) [ps, thats also when the angst hits ;)]  
> ALSO SPOT THE HP REF GET A SNEAK PEAK PREVIEW OF CH 6!

It took the better part of the day for Ladybug and Chat Noir to defeat the Akuma. It didn't help that both her and Chat were affected by her sonic clap. But Ladybug just used her Lucky Charm, which was a giant spring, to stop La Destructrice's hands as Chat Noir found and broke her mirror where the Akuma was hiding.

When everything went back to normal, Ladybug knew Chat was dying to go see how Marinette was, so she asked if her could stay and comfort the Akuma Victim. She used the excuse that he didn't have to use Cataclysm, so his timer wasn't running out like hers was. She hated to do this to him, but she had to keep her identity a secret.

When she got to the street where Chat Noir left Marinette, she ducked down the alley and transformed back. Tikki put a paw to her cheek before going into her purse to eat and then sleep.

"I hope you feel better after a nap, Tikki." Marinette whispered as she closed the clasp of her purse. After her Kwami was put away, Marinette slowly lifted her shirt to see the damage caused. It was only when she heard a small gasp did she shove her shirt down and pick her head up to see Chat standing in the alleyway, a slight tinge of red dusting his cheeks.

"Chat! What are- Is, is everything, okay?" Marinette changed her question, knowing that he wanted to check up on her. Chat Noir shook his head, before approaching her, his hand coming out to lightly stroke her cheek.

"Everything is just fine, Princess." He whispered, his eyes holding something that Marinette was almost afraid to identify. 

Chat Noir thought back to consoling the crying girl. It turns out, her class found out she had a crush on Adrien and laughed at her, claiming that he could never love someone who was fat. Chat didn't really know how to comfort her, so he just held her as she cried. He wanted to say something to help, but he didn't know how to phrase the words without giving a hint to his identity. 

As he held the weeping girl, though, he knew right then and there that his feelings for Marinette were something he could not contain. He wanted to be with her, to hold her when she cried, to make her laugh when she was feeling down, to have her smile at him like he was her whole world. Because she was starting to become his.

So as Chat came to that conclusion, he decided to go for it, holding nothing back. Marinette swallowed her gasp as he slowly leaned down towards her. "Everything is fine." he repeated before his lips brushed against hers.

At first Marinette didn't know what to do, but as Chat pressed another kiss to her lips, she felt her arms move to wrap around his neck. She stood on her toes to press harder against his lips as his hands held her waist to him. This was an unexpected development, but one, Marinette realized, that she was not opposed to. In fact, as he kissed her, she was coming to realize that her feelings for him were more complicated than she at first thought.

When they parted both of them were breathing hard and Chat leaned his forehead against hers. "You can't keep getting hurt, Marinette." he told her as he nudged her nose with his. "I can't keep seeing you get hurt."

If Marinette though the kiss took her breath away, then what he was saying stole her lungs. Tears sprung up as she looked him in the eye. "I'm fine. My ribs are just slightly bruised." she bit back the _I've had worse injuries than this_ line. That would just set him off.

"And what about you?" she asked a few seconds later, nudging him slightly. "You get hurt all the time from protecting Ladybug." she pointed out as she pulled away from him, but his hands kept her from pulling away completely.

"Yes, but I can take it." he said simply, as if it were that simple. Marinette huffed.

"Oh, so you can take it, but _Ladybug_ can't?"

Chat reeled at that. "That's not what I meant! I just- It's- She's more important than me." he spluttered, which had Marinette shoving him away from her.

"No Chat! _No!_ " Marinette shouted, which made Chat Noir gawk at her. His hands were still held out towards her as she approached him again.

"You are just as important as her! Don't you _ever_ say you aren't! And if you don't believe me, then believe _her_. She _always_ calls you her partner! She told Alya that she couldn't do _half_ of what she does without you. _Half_ Chat." She punctuated this by poking him in the chest.

"So don't say you're not important, because you are. You matter to Ladybug and you matter to me. You have value, Chat Noir, with or without Ladybug, so _please_ don't say you aren't important." Marinette stared into his eyes, her chest heaving, fire in her eyes. She didn't know how long she had held her anger towards him being reckless in for, but she was glad she could finally expel it. 

As she stood there panting, her finger still digging into his chest, her anger leaving her slowly, Marinette came to the conclusion that, more then complicated, her feelings had developed into something else. Something that expanded her worldview, how she saw Chat Noir as a person, because she no longer held the belief that he was just a flirty cat chasing Ladybug around. Marinette saw him as something _more_ , she was seeing that he was human, that he had problems, that Chat was more than he seemed. Just like _she_ was when she was Ladybug.

Chat Noir didn't do anything for a couple of seconds after outburst, and then she found herself with her back roughly shoved against the alley wall, Chats lips on hers, his hands in her hair. He kissed her once, twice, three times and then placed his head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry." he repeated it again and again until she shushed him quietly.

She stroked the back of his neck and kissed what she could of his head. "Me too." she replied, a smile playing on her lips. Chat crushed her in a hug, his shoulders shaking as he cried into her neck. "Shh, now. We're both fine, we're both safe." She tugged at the hair that started after his cat ears, smoothing it down and then tugging at it again.

They stayed like this for a good ten minutes, until Marinette heard her phone go off. It was the ringtone Alya had put in for herself. She felt Tikki pressing into her leg and she knew she couldn't put it off any longer, she had to go back to her friends.

Chat had heard her phone, but he hugged her tighter before he released her. His eyes were still tearing, but she couldn't tell if they were red rimmed or not. "You should go. _I_ should go." he said quietly, his eyes never leaving hers. He looked reluctant to move.

Marinette smiled up at him. "Come by my room tonight, okay? I want to make sure you're okay. You can make sure I'm okay, as well." He nodded, before he seemed to remember something. 

"Oh, _merde_! I have to go now. I- I'll see you tonight." He said in a rush, kissing her quickly before running out of the alley.

She checked her phone to see she had four missed calls from Nino, another five from Alya, and a slew of texts from them both. All were asking where she was, if she was hurt, if she was safe. She winced as she pressed redial, preparing for the shouting match that she was sure going to face.

"MARINETTE! WHERE THE _HELL_ HAVE YOU BEEN??" Alya shouted at her in lieu of a greeting.

"I'm sorry, Alya. I was taken by the Akuma. She thought I would know where Adrien was." Marinette felt bad about lying, but she couldn't very well tell Alya that she was Ladybug. That girl already took risks when it came to capturing footage. Besides, it was a half-truth.

"Are you okay? Where are you? Nino went back to get Adrien. I'm still at the school." Alya said in quick succession.

"I'm fine. Chat Noir and Ladybug got there just in time. I- I don't know _exactly_ where I am, but I know how to get back to the school. I'll be there soon," she said as she started walking back in the direction she knew the school to be in. "Are you okay?" 

"Yeah, I am now. My eardrums were shattered or something when the Akuma clapped her hands together, but Ladybug's powers healed them back to better than ever." Marinette tripped as Alya told her this.

"Are you sure you're okay?! You should have someone check to make sure!" Marinette said as she ran full tilt to the school. She knew that others would be injured in Akuma attacks, but she didn't realise that Alya could be hurt as well. 

Alya always seemed invulnerable to the Akumas. She got right in the action, but she always came out unscathed, she always came out with an awesome story and even more awesome footage. So for her to be hurt, it made Marinette's blood run cold. Perhaps this is what Alya felt like when Marinette was injured in the wake of Le Bombardier.

She heard her friends tinny laughter over the phones speakers. "Don't worry, I got checked out before _and_ after the Akuma was dealt with. What about you? Any new injuries on you?" Despite her light tone, Marinette knew Alya was worried Marinette would be hurt again.

"I'm fine. I just got some bruised ribs, but it's gone down thanks to Ladybugs' powers. It'll just be painful for a couple of days." Marinette was far more worried about Alya. She didn''t know what she would do if Alya were to be left seriously hurt because her Miraculous Light didn't heal her fully.  
\--  
Adrien and Nino came back a couple of minutes after Marinette. They were joking and laughing, but Marinette thought she saw a flash of pain in Adriens eyes when Nino looked away.

"Man I can't see you doing that _at all_!" Nino laughed, slapping Adrien on the arm. Adrien just smiled widely.

"Oh, but I did indeed do that." His smile evolved into a smirk. "Does that ruin your image of me?" he asked playfully. Nino laughed and slapped him on the arm again.

"Nino! Adrien!" Alya shouted as they neared. The two boys' heads popped up towards where the two girls were standing. Nino grinned at Alya.

"What? Miss me that much, _mon ange_?" Nino teased as he wrapped his arms around her.

Alya rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, _mon cochon_." she said lovingly. "Whatever you say."

"So is school cancelled?" Adrien asked as he looked towards the building. He didn't seem like he wanted to go in. Alya nodded at him, a smile on her face.

"Oh yeah. That means we get the rest of the day to ourselves." Marinette laughed when Alya got that evil glint in her eye.

"And....I don't know about you guys, buuuut," she trailed off as she walked away from the them and the school. 

"But what, _ma mie_?" Nino carried on, dragging Adrien with him by the arm draped over the neck of the green eyed boy. Marinette walked with them, already seeing where Alya was heading with this.

"Well, Marinette's parents have the best bakery around and they just _adore_ any friends she brings around." She winks at Marinette, who just rolls her eyes.

"Oooh! Some Tarte Tatin with Chocolat Chaud. What bliss." Nino said, rubbing his stomach and smacking his lips.

"I also have computer and board games that we can play. I'm sure my parents won't mind a few hours of rowdy teenagers in their house." Marinette said with a giggle. Nino was sure to make her parents laugh as he proclaims his love for their shop as dramatically as he can. He was a good ego booster.  
\--  
Marinette said goodbye to Alya; she was the last to go. All she had to do now was wait for Chat Noir to show up. Something told her it would take a while, so she worked on some homework and then started drawing in her design book.

She couldn't figure out the angle on one skirt and was about to erase it for the fourth time when she heard a tap at her window. She waved him in eyes never leaving her sketch, far more concentrated on the skirt.

"You're going at too steep an angle." he said beside her, right in her ear so his breath tickled it. Marinette could feel her heart beating faster, and it wasn't because he had snuck up on her.

She turned slightly to look at his profile, images of them kissing flashing through her mind. Marinette put her design book away before turning around in her chair completely. "And what would you know about it?" she teased, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Not much, I'll admit, but I do get around." Chat replied as he lounged on her chaise, a grin spreading across his face as he wiggled his eyebrows.

"You think you're so suave, don't you?" Marinette asked him, getting up from her desk and slowly walking towards him.

"It comes with the job, Princess. Along with being devilishly handsome." He winked at her, his grin getting bigger.

"If that's what you call handsome, then I'm richer than Chloe Bourgeois." she retorted, booping him on the nose and then walking over to her bed to sit on it.

"You wound me deeply, Princess." Chat said, dramatically placing his hand over his heart.

"If it was a well placed blow, then you can just mull it over in _pur_ chat _toire_." Marinette said simply, the pun slipping out of her mouth without her noticing. Chat Noir noticed, though.

"Why, Princess, I didn't think you had it in you." He told her, sitting up in the chaise. If his grin got any bigger, it would split his face in two.

"Ugh. You're rubbing off on me! They should just change your name to _Chat Stupide_!" She moaned, shoving her face in a pillow.

"I resent that. If anything, it should be _Chat Magnifique_." His voice sounded hurt even though he was joking right back with her. Marinette peeked at him from where her face was buried.

"You know I was kidding, right?" She asked slowly, sitting up fully to face him. 

"You were, I was not. I should really consider getting this fixed. _Chat Magnifique_ has a nice ring to it." He would not quite meet her eye, his gaze bouncing about her room, never landing on her long. Marinette just held out her hand for him to take.

It took him a while to understand, and even more to come over and take it, but when his hand hit hers, she yanked him into her. They both collapsed back onto her bed, Chat half on top of her, but neither seemed to mind.

"I shouldn't have said it quite like that, you know. I don't think you're stupid, and neither does Ladybug." she whispered, her voice trailing off as she got lost in the green of his eyes.

"I don't want to talk about her right now." he whispered back before leaning in. His hand broke her grasp as it trailed up to cup her cheek and then rest in the hollow of her neck.

She pulled back slightly, her breath mingling with his. "What if," she swallowed, her eyes trailing to his lips. "What if I gave you a name that only I could call you?" He brushed their lips together, nipping at her bottom lip.

"Like what I do when I call you 'Princess'?" he asked, shifting his position as his right arm fell asleep. Marinette nodded, straining up to press her lips to his again. They got lost in their tentative kissing for a minute, before both pulled apart to breath.

"How about ' _joli minou_ '?" Marinette suggested, which had Chat Noir make a disgusted noise at.

"What about ' _Chat Magnifique_ '?" he replied, nipping at her bottom lip.

"' _Chat Fou_ '?" Marinette bit at his lip, smiling when he blushed.

"' _Chat Magnifique_ '?" he asked again, nudging her with his nose.

"' _Mon mimi_ '?" Marinette teased, taking advantage of his shocked face to gain access to his neck. Chat squirmed under her ministrations, but a small moan escaped his lips.

" _Mon mimi_ it is." she teased, leaning back into her mattress, licking her lips to admire her handiwork.

"I'll get you back for that, Princess." Chat warned, which made Marinette laugh.

"Whatever you say, _mon mimi_." Which spurred him into action. He lightly yanked at her hair, causing her head to tilt back, which gave him access to her neck, returning the favour she paid to him.

"Chat! I have school in the morning!" Marinette exclaimed, but she didn't pull him off of her, enjoying the feel of his lips on her throat.

"You act like you're the only one." he breathed along her skin, sending shivers up and down her spine.

"If I say I'm sorry for the _mon mimi_ thing, will you stop?" she asked, threading her hands in his hair to hold him in place. Marinette cursed her own body for betraying her, but whatever he was doing with his tongue felt good.

"Never." he said as he lapped at the base of her neck, enjoying the way her fingers gripped his hair.

Despite what he said, though, he realised it was getting rather late, so he reluctantly picked his head up from her throat, pausing to admire his work, before looking at Marinette. "Until next time, Princess." He kissed her lips, pulling himself away from her warmth slowly.

Marinette sat up as he pulled off of her. "Until next time." she repeated, watching as he went out through her porthole window. She got ready for bed, pausing in brushing her teeth to check out the damage he had done.

Hickeys littered the left side of her neck, from the base of her jaw to the hollow of her throat. There was no way she could just cover this up with a scarf, and it wasn't like she had enough concealer to cover it up that way, either. _I'll just leave it for the morning_ , she thought, yawning as she got into bed.

"Goodnight Tikki." she called out.

"Goodnight Marinette." her Kwami returned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you think Alya and Nino don't call each other cutesy and lovey dovey annoying nicknames for fun, then you are WRONG! also, the translations for them are as follows  
> mon ange= my angel  
> mon cochon= my pig (this is an actual term of endearment in france, although in german honigkuchenpferd is an actual term of endearment as well and thats just honeycakehorse...)  
> ma mie= literally "my female friend," but used to mean "my dear/love." (This is a somewhat old-fashioned term contracted from mon amie > m'amie > ma mie. [taken straight from the website iused to look these up]  
> Chat Stupide= stupid cat  
> Chat Magnifique= beautiful cat  
> jli minou= pretty kitty  
> Chat Fou= crazy cat  
> mon mimi= my pussycat (informal) [idk i thought it was funny when i saw it listed on the website]  
> ALSO INJURY REVEAL NEXT CHAPTER!!!


	6. Oh No, What A Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ANGST, FEELS, COMFORT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the person who won my 'get a sneak peek look at ch 6' never responded back, so I'm sorry to them, but i wanted to post this last chapter before i get onto a once a week schedule. i figured every tuesday will do just fine, unless the chapters already done, then i'll just add it whenever. if i have writers block, the latest i'll update is thursday.

_The sounds of explosions pierced her ears, the echoes sending a wave of nausea coursing through her. Sirens were going off in the distance and the screams of the injured filled the air. Marinette was looking around for something, something important, but she couldn't quite remember what. All the noise was messing with her thoughts, it felt like she couldn't breath._

_A cry of pain pierced the air cutting through her panic and, before she knew it, she was looking upon Chloe, who had concrete dust in her hair and on her shoulders, her eyes wild and filled with tears. Sabrina was laying on the ground clutching at her leg which was crushed under a wall of rubble._

_A shock from another bomb shook the earth, making the wall lean even more on Sabrina's leg. Marinette ran full out until her shoulder touched the wall._

**["Marinette, can you hear me?"]**

_Both her and Sabrina cried out in pain, but Marinette breathed through it as she looked at where the red haired girls leg was trapped. She hadn't seen the re-bar sticking out of the crumbled wall, but she sure as hell felt _it.__

__**[Air! She needed air.]** __

_Chloe was shouting out nonsense, her hands gripping her hair. "Chloe!" she called out, but the blonde didn't seem to hear her. Her voice seemed to echo, sounding far away to her ears._

__**[She couldn't hear! "Marinette!"]**

"Chloe Jeanne-Antoinette Bourgeois! _Your friend is hurt and needs help!" Marinette tried again, this time her voice sounding much clearer. This seemed to snap Chloe out of her head. She looked at where Sabrina's leg was trapped, not meeting them in the eyes, before nodding and running off down the street._

__**[Help! Someone! Air! "Breathe, Marinette. It's okay, I got you. Just breathe."]** __

_Sabrina was sobbing by now, the hand gripping her knee was white at the knuckles, the red heads cries making Marinette dizzy for a moment. Another bomb shook them, and Marinette let out a cry of her own. "Look at me, Sabrina! Sabrina! Focus on my voice!" Marinette yelled at her, her grip on the wall failing for a brief moment. That was all it needed, though, as it practically doubled in size, looming over her in a taunting way. Her shoulder cried out in pain, and she mimicked it._

__**[Help! "I've got you Marinette. I've got you."]** ____

_Sabrina looked quickly at her, and then went back to looking at her leg. It was spewing blood, so much blood, too much blood. It was everywhere, in her hair and on her clothes, in her lungs._

__**[Air! She _needed_ air!]**

_Marinette forced her eyes away from the bloody sight, focusing on gaining Sabrina's attention. "Sabrina, you need to look at me now, okay? Just focus on me." Marinette was trying to calm them both down, but Sabrina's cries were making Marinette's skin crawl. She felt the wall get bigger, could feel it molding into her shoulder, trying to force her to go down._

__**[It hurts! Can't breathe!]** ____

_"It- it hurts." Sabrina choked out between sobs._

_"I know it hurts, but you need to look at me." God, did Marinette know it. She could feel her knees groaning as the wall was getting progressively heavier. Sabrina bit her lip as she tore her gaze away. Marinette could see just how badly she was hurt, it was written plain as day in the lines on her face._

_"What-," she stopped as a bomb knocked the wall further down upon them. She clenched her jaw before pushing back with all her might. Even then, the wall didn't budge far. Marinette let out a cry of frustration as she felt her legs slipping out from under her. Sabrina was crying even harder now, and all Marinette could hear were the bombs going off._

__**[She couldn't _breathe_. She couldn't-]** ____

_There was movement in her peripheral, and on instinct she called out to him. "Chat Noir! Please help us!" Those three words echoed and danced around the air. She thought her plea would never reach him._

__**[Help! "Marinette, please wake up!"]** ____

_She could see the fear in his eyes as he spotted them, she could see him fighting with himself on whether to go to the Akuma or to stay and help._

_In the end, the decision was made for him rather quickly when another bomb caused a shift in the rubble the wall was laying on. Chat Noir was there in a flash, baton out and stabbed at the ground right next to where Sabrina's foot was slowly getting crushed. The blood receded revealing the girls leg, her death grip making half-moon indents around the skin of her knee._

__**["Breathe. That's it, you've got it. You can do this Marinette."]** ____

_"Sabrina, when I say 'now', I want you to pull your legs to your chest. Do you understand?" Marinette didn't know who asked the question, but she saw it, tasted it, felt the grit of the dust as it settled on her tongue. Her breathing came quicker._

_Sabrina shook her head. "It hurts too much!"_

_Somebody else was talking then, but it was like her ears were under water. Water, that would be nice, her throat was too dry for her liking._

__**[Air!]** ____

_Sabrina nodded, which made Marinette twist her body so her hands were spread apart to take on more weight of the wall. She could hear it taunting her again, laughing at her pathetic attempt at helping her friend, but she ignored it. She ignored the pain in her shoulder, she ignored the pain in her thigh, and she ignored the fact that the Akuma was running unchecked._

__**[It _hurt_ , oh _god_ she was in _pain_! So much _pain_! "I've got you, Marinette. You're safe."]** ____

_"On three," Chat Noir whispered, her ears had finally returned to where they should be. Marinette nodded to him, her eyes trained on where Sabrina's leg lay; She would be ready if more blood came. She felt more than heard Chat reach the number three and did her best to push, but her muscles felt like noodles and her lungs were protesting. Oh how she wanted to breathe fresh air._

__**["Breathe."]** ____

_"Now!" She yelled, feeling a sickening tug at her shoulder as the wall collapsed in the opposite direction. It wouldn't be mocking her now._

_She was by Sabrina's side in an instant, thanking Chat without taking her eyes off of the red heads ankle. It was swollen and at an odd angle, bruised from the tips of her toes to midway up her shin. Her ankle and leg were most likely broken as well as her foot, blood was_ caked _along her leg, the bone sticking out of her shin._

__**[Help! We need Help!]** __

_Sabrina's ankle was wrapped in a pad and both of her hair scrunchies. Marinette didn't know what to do about the rest of her leg, so she held Sabrina's hand as the girl cried out in pain. All she could do was hold on to her, whispering quiet words of encouragement that didn't reach her own ears, soothing her as best as she could._

__**[She needed help! She needed-!]** __

_She didn't see Chat Noir leave, but he must have, because Chloe rounded the corner with two paramedics and Marinette looked up to see him gone. And she needed to be gone as well. She didn't know why, there was just this feeling tugging her gut towards where the bombs were. Something about a girl. Red, she saw flashes of red and suddenly she remembered._

_"I have to go find Alya!" she shouted at Chloe, but the blonde, Sabrina and the paramedics were gone. She was standing in the middle of a street, rubble and blood everywhere. As Marinette ran down the street, she felt her lungs constrict with the lack of air inside her body and outside. Concrete and plaster dust hung heavy in the air, trapping the heat of the bombs and coating everything they could find._

__**[" _Breathe!_ Marinette, breathe!"]** __

_"Alya!" Marinette cried out, her hands in front of her face, her breath growing more ragged as she ran blindly down the street. "Alya!" She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see. She reached her hand out to blindly feel the air, she couldn't breathe-_

"Marinette!" a small voice pulled her from her nightmare, no, from her memory. Her hands were at her throat, trying to claw their way through her skin. _She needed air!_

"I have to find Alya, Tikki! What if she's hurt! What if-" 

"Marinette! What are you talking about?" Her Kwami asked as she floated closer to her young charges face. 

"Le Bombardier! He's out there! What if she's hurt!?" Marinette struggled with her sheets, them having tangled with her legs as she tossed about in her sleep. Her eyes darted around wildly, not taking anything in. 

"Marinette, you and Chat Noir defeated Le Bombardier, remember?" 

The pig tailed girl shook her head, her ears ringing from the bombs concussive force. "No he's still out there! I have to find Alya!" She would _rip_ her sheets apart if they wouldn't cooperate with her. 

"No you don't, Marinette. Ladybug and Chat Noir dealt with Le Bombardier weeks ago! Remember? Remember your Lucky Charm?" Tikki was trying to pull Marinette out of the panic she was in, her soothing voice guiding the girl to search her memories for what happened that day. 

"It-," she took a deep breath. "It was a ping pong paddle..." she whispered as she dropped the sheets to rub her hands through her hair. _In through the nose, out through the mouth._

Tikki nodded. "And you used it to.." she prompted, already seeing Marinette's breathing getting slower as the adrenaline faded from her system. Marinette felt as if she had just dealt with Le Bombardier just _yesterday_. 

"I- I sent back one of his bombs and Chat Noir grabbed his work gloves." Marinette took deep breaths, _in through the nose, out through the mouth._ She shivered as the night air cooled her sweat. 

"And after you and Chat did your celebratory fist bump?" 

"I- I looked over to see Alya," Marinette replied, tears rolling down her face. They've been through this before, but each time felt like _new_. Each time left her feeling _raw_. Each time felt _just as real_ as the first. 

"And she was unhurt, Marinette. Filming the whole thing on her phone." Tikki added, flying close enough to tap her forehead against Marinette's. 

"Do you need to say the words?" Tikki asked quietly, watching her young charges face for any signs of a relapse. Marinette just nodded her head, bringing in a big shaky breath. 

"Alya is safe, Tikki is safe, Paris is safe, I'm safe." she said weakly wiping madly at her tears. 

"Again." Tikki told her, lightly pushing on Marinette's chest to get her to lay back down. 

"Alya is safe, Tikki is safe, Paris is safe, I'm safe." She swallowed past the lump in her throat. Her neck stung, but the pain kept her grounded. More tears fell, but she just let them be. 

"Again." 

"Alya is safe, Tikki is safe, Paris is safe, I'm safe." she repeated it in her mind as well. Her hands were shaking as they pulled her blankets over her shoulders and up to her ears. 

"Once more." 

"Alya is safe, Tikki is safe, Paris is safe, I'm safe." she yawned the last word, snuggling deeper into her covers. Her Kwami coming over to burrow into her cheek before floating over to her own bed. 

"Goodnight, Marinette." Tikki whispered, already knowing the girl was alseep once more.  
\--  
Marinette was on edge throughout the next day. She always was whenever she dreamed of _that day_. Alya comforted her as best as she could, but all Marinette really wanted to do was bundle her friend up in plush blankets and keep her safe from the world. She always felt this way afterwards as well. 

Not even Nino and Adrien joining them for lunch could get her out of her tense mood. Although Adrien's blushing and stammering around her did come close, she still felt paranoid. It was as if invisible eyes were upon her, and she hated the prickly feeling it gave her. 

So when Alya excused herself to the bathroom, Marinette stuck to her like glue. "I'm sorry, Alya." she said quietly as she stood by the sinks, knowing that she was probably being annoying. They were the only two in the bathroom, so they felt more comfortable talking to each other. 

"It's alright, Mari. Honestly, I wanted to do the same thing to you when you were injured." Marinette could hear the pain in Alya's voice, could practically _see_ the unshed tears in her friends eyes. 

"I just felt so _guilty_ when I found out you were hurt. I-," Alya sniffled, which made Marinette's nose prickle as tears silently rolled down her cheeks. "I didn't even _know_ you were hurt! What kind of friend just _leaves_ \- I wasn't even _thinking_ \- I left to get _footage_!" She couldn't find the right words, the right sentence to convey all the things she felt. They were bubbling just below her skin, a constant reminder of how much she let her friend down. She was glad for them, she never wanted to forget, never wanted to forgive herself for acting so selfishly. 

Alya came out of the stall with her glasses pushed up into her hair and tears streaming down her face. She quickly washed her hands and then grabbed Marinette into a bear hug. "I'm so sorry that I did that!" she cried as she tightened her grip. Marinette just reciprocated the pressure, not even minding as her ribs reminded her she was hurt. 

"And then you were just _gone_ yesterday! I felt like I failed you all over again!" Marinette rubbed her friends back as she listened to her sob into her shoulder. She felt the bitter sting of guilt pierce her heart as Alya told her of her worry. She _hated_ lying to Alya. 

"Don't blame yourself for that!" Marinette told her, squeezing her tighter before letting her go to look her friend in the eye. "That was my fault! I got caught! And you know I would _never_ blame you for what happened with Le Bombardier!" Marinette knew her grip on Alya's shoulders was tight, but she wanted to ground her friend, and she needed to feel grounded as well. 

Alya wiped her face of her tears, a small smile on her lips. "I know," she said quietly, "but I blame _myself_." Marinette bit her lip to force her tears not to fall. 

Alya reached up to grab the ends to Marinette's scarf, it was to hide her neck which was covered with plasters and gauze to hide her scratches and hickeys. Marinette didn't like the look in her friends eyes as Alya gripped her scarf tightly. 

"How about we share the blame, then?" Marinette compromised. Alya laughed through her nose, her smile getting bigger. 

"Okay, then. We're both equally to blame." They hugged once more before going back out to join the boys for the last five minutes of lunch. 

Marinette still felt the eyes upon her as class continued, but whenever she saw Alya move out of the corner of her eye, she felt herself smile.  
\--  
Chat Noir had just finished his patrol and was about to creep back into his bedroom when he heard the soft echo of a cry. Glancing around using his night vision, he saw a figure a little ways away in the Agreste gardens. 

He knew that it couldn't be any of his fathers employees, they had all left hours ago. So he transformed and waved Plagg to go inside, walking slowly towards the noise. It took him a while to navigate his way through the hedge maze, it having looked a lot simpler to go through from higher ground, but he eventually came upon the person crying in his family garden. 

When he realised who it was, though, all the air in his lungs left him, for there was Ladybug, sobbing her heart out right in front of him. He froze, holding every taught muscle in place lest he make some noise to scare the Parisian hero off. Adrien stood like that for a good few minutes before he worked up the nerve to move. He made sure he was making some noise, calling out as if he didn't know who was in his garden. He saw Ladybug's back tense before she slowly swiveled her head around. 

Her eyes widened as they met Adrien's. "I- I'm so sorry! I'll just leave-" she started, picking up her arm to toss her yo-yo, but Adrien gently grabbed it, holding her back. 

"Please." He said softly. "What's wrong?" This question seemed to deflate her, though he noticed her shoulders still carried some tension. He didn't like seeing his Lady like this, looking dejected and small. 

He sat down next to her, her gaze returning to the small patch of flowers a couple of feet in front of them. Ladybug just sat there, her body swinging slightly in some invisible breeze, her shoulders hunched as if the world was sitting there, whispering malevolent words in her ears. Ten minutes of quiet sitting went by, him peeking over at her from the corner of his eye, her staring resolutely ahead, as if refusing to acknowledge he was there. And then she opened her mouth. And then she said something that shook him to his very core. 

"I'm scared." It was barely a whisper, the words barely needing any air to pass through her lips, but they hung in the space between them, erecting a brick wall to surround her. As if she weren't already inaccessible to him. 

Adrien opened his mouth to say something, _anything_ , trying to cheer her up, but everything he thought of sounded off, sounded disjointed, sounded hollow. So he waited to see if she would say more. 

"I'm so scared all the time." she continued, her hands clutching her forearms in front of her. It looked as if she wasn't even seeing anything around her anymore, like she was off in her own world. 

"But you're Ladybug! Defender of Paris!" The words slipped out of his mouth before he could register them. He knew instantly that it was the wrong thing to say. He wanted to take them back, to swallow them, to swat them from the air, but he couldn't. "N-" he started. 

"And that's exactly why I'm scared." She told him, her body swayed faster in tighter circles. "Everyone thinks that Ladybug will always save the day, that Ladybug will always catch the bad guys, that Ladybug could do no wrong. But that's not true!" she shouted, throwing her words at the patch of geraniums. 

"It's not true." She said softer, lowering her head until her chin rested on her chest. "I'm always on this pedestal, and it only gets higher and higher as the days go on. But it's too high for me." Her tears were back. Adrien reached out to her, touching her shoulder briefly, but she flinched at the contact. 

"I can't get down from it and one day I'm afraid I'll fall. I'll fall so far that people won't understand _why_ I fell, they'll just see another idol knocked down." It was as if she were in a trance and Adrien didn't know how to snap her out of it. She wasn't seeing anything, not the geraniums, not the shrubbery, not the night sky, not Adrien, who was desperately trying to help her. 

"One day I won't be fast enough. One day I won't be strong enough. One day my powers won't be able to heal someone and I don't think I could handle that happening. All it takes is one mistake, but all anyone sees is Ladybug being perfect." She said it flippantly, as if she were quoting someone. 

"I've made mistakes, plenty of them, too, but it's like they all refuse to see them. Because if they see them, if they acknowledge them, then I'll be just like them, I'll be fallible. I'll be a _person_ instead of a _saviour_." Those two words were bitter on her tongue, as if they were full of poison. 

She brought her legs up to her chest and it was as if she was already falling, as if she were mere seconds from crumbling into dust. Mere seconds from fading into the night, never to be seen again. Adrien didn't know how to fix her, but he did know one thing, he knew what she was going through. 

As Chat Noir, he was out from underneath his fathers thumb, he was free to act as he pleased, say what he thought and _damn_ the consequences. As Adrien Agreste, though, his every word was scrutinized, his every action thought out in advance, his every thought discarded as _useless_. He just never imagined Ladybug would be just as likely to succumb to the pressure as he was, and therein lied his fault. 

"My whole day is planned for me," he starts slowly, copying her by looking down at the geraniums. "I get my schedule for the week handed to me every Monday. If I deviate from it for even a _second_ , my father yells at me for 'wasting precious time'." As he goes on to explain to her his situation, he gets why she folded in on herself. Once you let out your innermost secrets, once you start talking about your demons, there's nothing left to hold you up. 

"I sometimes feel like I'm just a prop for him, something to parade around to the media and his fellow businessmen. I haven't felt like his son in a long time." He saw Ladybug shift in his peripheral, he saw her mouth open slightly in shock, he saw her eyes widen, but he didn't see pity in them, only understanding. 

"I once went two whole months without seeing or speaking to him. Two months of silence on his end. What kind of father _does that?_ " He asks harshly, his nails biting into his knees. It was simultaneously _too_ much and yet not _enough_ pain. 

"And I'm critiqued about my posture, told to choose my words wisely or to hold my tongue, to be polite but not overtly friendly, to get good grades and be essentially _perfect_ , but I don't even know what perfect _is_ anymore." The tears stung his eyes and he knew he would be scolded tomorrow if they were rimmed red, but at the moment he didn't care. He just didn't _care_. 

Adrien heard Ladybug shift beside him before there was slight pressure on his right shoulder. He turned his head slightly to see that she had laid her head down on his shoulder. At any other time he would be ecstatic, over the moon with joy, but right now he just felt achingly empty. Like there was an echo inside of him that just kept going on and on and _on_. 

"Well, aren't we quite the pair?" Ladybug said a little while later, a smile gracing her lips, but her eyes still held that bottomless sadness. Adrien could tell she was leaving soon, but he didn't want her to go, he didn't want to be alone again, so he stayed quiet hoping that she would stay put. He had finally found someone he could share his pain with, but he knew it couldn't last. _Nothing in my life has so far._

She picked her head up just as slowly as she had put it down. It felt like she was as hesitant to leave as he was for her to go. But then she got up on her feet and stretched her arms up, walking a little ways away from where he was still sitting. 

She slung her yo-yo 'til it caught on a far away tree branch, but she looked back at him instead of leaping. "Thank you," she told him, her eyes shining, giving away just how much it meant to her that he listened. Adrien just nodded, too afraid he'd ask her to stay if he spoke. 

As she left, Adrien turned his head back to the patch of geraniums, resting his head on his knees as he closed his eyes, not wanting to see someone else leaving him. 

He woke sometime later to Plagg flicking him on the forehead. "Wake up, little one, or you're going to catch a cold sleeping out here in the open." Adrien blinked the sleep from his eyes, arching his back slightly to stretch it out, only to shiver as his bare skin hit the cool night air. 

He looked down to see one of his blankets on the ground behind him where it fell from his shoulders. Adrien just picked it up before sleepily moving his way through the maze, following Plagg to his open bedroom window. 

"Did you put this on me, Plagg?" He asked through a yawn as he got into bed, squirming in the sheets to warm them up. 

"Ladybug did." Plagg said quietly, floating over to his spot on Adriens bed. The scarf his father had gotten him for his birthday was twirled into a nest of sorts, his Kwami using it as a bed, pillow, and blanket all in one. 

Adrien felt warmth spread through him when he registered what Plagg told him. That meant she had stayed, that she cared enough to make sure he was warm. Despite his evening taking a turn for the worse, it had actually ended rather nicely. Hopefully Ladybug thought so as well. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *casually slides some Ladrien your way*  
> also maris nightmare/memory/dream thing isnt completely accurate seeing as how her mind warped some details...hopefully i did this justice *crosses fingers*
> 
> fun fact: i have most of the plot mapped out and am working on chapters eight, nine, and ten  
> regular fact: i recently saw the ml origins episodes and am currently looking for a way to implant the umbrella scene into my head so it plays constantly in the background of my brain  
> unfun fact: i had a fight with ao3's html input thing and have won the war and lost many battles aka. it bolded EVERYTHING and i had to go in and manually unbold EVERYTHING MULTIPLE TIMES


	7. Eye Scream, You Scream, We All Scream And Run Away From The Akuma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein Le Papillion is like Team Rocket and Marinette is Pickachu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooooo i have a new AU thats been taking over my brain and now my thoughts about this one have been slowly drying up and im trying to prevent that but its not really working D: luckily i have until next week to produce a new chapter so thats a good deadline for me

The passing days without any sign of Le Papillion put Marinette even further on edge. She still felt the eyes upon her wherever she went. She sometimes woke in the middle of the night, her nightmares rousing her from her hard won sleep, to feel the telltale prickle on the back of her neck. Marinette only dreamed of eyes, now. They were everywhere, watching, waiting, taunting, seeing if she would mess up, make a mistake, or reveal her secrets. It didn't matter what direction she was facing, if her back was to a wall, or if she spun around quickly, the feeling never faded, it never went away.

It got to the point where her parents were worried about her health. She was constantly twitching, her eyes peeled wide open, darting to and fro, her shoulders hunched to make herself a smaller target. She wasn't eating as much, she was hardly sleeping, and she was thankful there hadn't been an Akuma attack, because she would not have been able to focus with the way she was feeling.

Alya had tried to help in the beginning, had tried to see if it would go away if she blasted music, or if she focused on something, but no matter what she did, it never stopped. It was hurting her health, her friendships, her grades, and she'd give anything for it to just _stop_.

 

And, suddenly, as if by magic, it did. She woke up one Wednesday morning, having slept fully through the night. Her neck wasn't prickling, her senses weren't scattered to look for the source, she hadn't even dreamed about eyes. She felt refreshed (well, as refreshed as one could be after two weeks of constantly tensing her muscles), relaxing her shoulders for the first time in what felt like months. Marinette greeted the day by hugging Tikki and spinning about her room, humming to herself as she got ready for school.

"Maman! Papa! I'm going to school now!" She called down as she practically flew down the stairs to the bakery. The way her parents faces lit up, made her want to cry; She hadn't meant to make them worry.

"So the feeling, it's gone?" her mom asked, wringing her hands, almost frightened that the answer would be 'no'. But Marinette just smiled widely and nodded with enthusiasm. She was _not_ going to make her parents worry anymore.

"Yes! Completely!" she shouted, grabbing her lunch from one of the side counters. She hugged her mother tightly, before both of them were pulled into an even tighter hug but her dad.

"Hopefully it stays that way!" her dad said as he patted her head, his smile bringing fresh tears to her eyes.

"Hopefully!" Marinette repeated back before going to the bakery door. She waved goodbye to her parents and then skipped to school, her phone in her hands. 

**To Ali-Ami:**  
AHHHHH!!!!!! I FEEL SO FREE!!!!!!

**From Ali-Ami:**  
WHAT?? ARE THE EYES OFF YOU??!!!! OIFOINSFPSIDFPKHWEPFIH!

**From Ali-Ami:**  
Sorry, Nino got too excited and grabbed my phone, _stupide_ Nino! Are you on your way?

**To Ali-Ami:**  
You love him, admit it!!  & I am almost there

**From Ali-Ami:**  
I do, but that does not change his IQ level- We're at the steps, hurry!!

**From Ali-Ami:**  
Don't get me wrong, Nino is smart when he wants to be but only on his own terms. besides, he's a _maladroit_

**To Ali-Ami:**  
well, i can't really argue with that

"No, you can't." Alya said to her as Marinette walked up the steps of the school. Marinette just smiled at her friend, putting her phone away and reveling in the feeling that an enormous pressure was off her shoulders.

"Do you have anything planned after school ends? Because I don't have to help my parents in the bakery, so we could go out and do something." Marinette asked Alya, including Nino in the conversation as well. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, Marinette had never felt so light, and this was including when she fought Akumas.

"Well we _do_ have a half day today, so we could go somewhere nice and really hang out. Hmm..." Alya pondered as they walked up the stairs to their classroom. 

"We could go to an arcade, or see a movie." Nino threw out, which sounded appealing to Marinette. She hasn't had a normal after school activity since she became Ladybug.

"We could do both. I don't know what movies are out, but I'm pretty sure Alya does." Marinette turned towards the blogger who was typing away at her phone. At the sound of her name, she looked up. 

"Oh, well, I was actually thinking we could go to the new market place that opened up a little ways away from here. They have shops and food stalls and game places." Alya said, adjusting her glasses and looking at all her and Nino.

" That sounds fun, actually, but I don't know if Adrien can come to that." Nino said, thinking back to an earlier conversation between him and the blond haired boy.

"Can come to what?" Said boy asked, setting his book bag on the ground and sitting in his chair, swiveling slightly so he could see all three of his friends.

"Hang out with us directly after school lets out." Nino said as he fiddled with his headphones, something he only did when he was nervous. But about what, Adrien didn't know.

"Well, I have a quick photo shoot right after, but it should only last an hour or two." Adrien replied, smiling when Nino smiled.

"Yeah? Well, we were going to go to this new market place that just opened up that Alya was telling us about." Nino was bouncing in his seat. He had _really_ missed hanging out with his friend.

"Oh, well, in that case, you guys could come with me to my shoot. I'm sure the director won't mind you guys hanging out by the food table. That way I can have my driver take us to the market place afterwards." As he said this, all three of their faces lit up.

"If you think I'm hanging by the food table at a _fashion_ shoot, you are dead wrong!" Marinette said, her eyes glazed as she thought about being on an _actual_ photo set, being surrounded by Gabriel Agreste's designs.

"You got that right! Gotta scope out some gossip!" Alya smirked, rubbing her hands together sinisterly.

"Nah, pass on both fronts. I'm most _definitely_ hanging out by the food table. You once brought me some leftovers from one shoot and I _still_ have dreams about it!" Nino laughed, lightly punching Adrien's shoulder.

"Alright! Then it's settled!" Adrien said, taking out his phone to inform his driver of the slight change in plans. This was going to be a good day, Adrien could just feel it in his bones. The sun was shining, his friends were laughing, he was actually _making plans_ with them, and nothing could ruin his mood. Not even Mme. Bustier walking in to start class.  
\--  
It was third period. Marinette was standing in the middle isle talking with Mylene about making more clothes for Ivan (something she was vehemently denying being paid for) when a crash broke the class from their idle chatter.

Marinette looked over just in time to see the door to their classroom collide with the wall opposite it and break through it completely. Standing in the door way was an Akuma. He was tall and gangly, his arms stretching until his hands touched the floor. He was hunched over slightly, panting as if he had run all the way here. His eyes searched the crowd as they all backed up into the furthest corner of the room.

Marinette froze when his eyes locked on hers. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" His voice rung out, a question and a statement all at once. She slowly stepped out of the middle isle, coming closer to him and further from her friends who were shouting at her to back away.

"May I help you?" Her voice was small, but held no fear. She held herself on the balls of her feet, ready to dart in any direction if the Akuma chose to strike at her.

He smiled, stretching his face into something from out of a horror movie. His face was half melted, and his eyes roamed over her body as his hands moved to grab her. "I have someone who wants to meet you." He said, taking a step towards her.

Marinette didn't know who he was talking about, but she knew that she could not fight him with the whole class watching her. So she smiled at him, changing the way she was positioned. "Oh yeah? Well what if I don't want to meet them?"

Adrien could not _believe_ Marinette. Did this girl have no fear? Hell, even _he_ was scared, and he was the one who fought these guys for a living. Not that he could do anything about it right now, though, because Nino was holding both him and Alya back. Adrien could tell that his friend was holding himself back as well, but it was like Nino _knew_ that if he let go of either him or Alya, that they would do something incredibly stupid. Like, say, _fight_ and Akuma.

But Marinette was doing just that. Sure, she wasn't doing it physically, but with her words she was taunting him, pushing the Akuma further. Which begged the question, _why_ would the Akuma come after plain old Marinette when all Le Papillion had them do was try to steal his and Ladybugs Miraculous'.

And then, Marinette did something that stopped his heart, made his blood go cold, his lungs seize up, his hands to trail after her. Because Marinette just _fucking jumped out the goddamn hole in the wall._ He could vaguely hear Alya scream her best friends name- how many times would he have to hear that in his lifetime- he could, on some level, hear the whole class gasp and shout as they watched their classmate _hurl_ themselves out a two story _goddamn whole in the wall_. Adrien could register that he was shouting along with the rest of them, but what he couldn't register, what he couldn't fathom, was that the Akuma looked _just as shocked_ as the rest of them.

Adrien wanted nothing more than to go over to the hole and see if she was alright, but Nino seemed to upgrade his grasp into a death grip. His two fists bundled in Adrien and Alya's shirts, worry on his brow and a scream in his throat. 

It took one step for the Akuma to do what everyone else in the room wanted to do. He looked down at the ground and then shrieked as he saw his prey get away. It looked as if he practically _melted_ down the side of the school, Adrien unconsciously checking over the Akuma's body to look for the object the Akuma was hiding in. 

And then everyone rushed together towards the hole, some had their phones out, either to call the police or to record. Adrien paid them no mind as he shoved his way through to the front only to see a small figure rounding the corner and the Akuma racing after it. 

"Why did it go after her?" Nino asked, his face a mixture of confusion and panic. Adrien bet that his and Alya's were no better. 

"I don't know, but she's not _answering her phone!_ Marinette, pick up!" Alya screamed at her phone screen as her third call went to voicemail. 

"We gotta go after her." Nino suggested, his feet already moving him to the door before Alya stopped him. 

"What are we going to do? It's better to just wait until Ladybug and Chat Noir defeat the Akuma." Alya told him, her grip in his shirt sleeve tightening as she clutched her phone to her chest. 

"But Marinette's out there!" Nino threw back, his mind beginning to panic as the attack that had transpired fully registered. 

"Don't you think I want to go out there and search for her, too? I'm scared and worried she's going to get hurt! She's my _best friend_ ," Alya had tears in her eyes as she said this, her head hanging as she tried to work through the tears. "I don't want her out there all alone, but I know it would be harmful if I were to just run after her. I could lead the Akuma to her, or get in the way!" 

Nino wrapped his girlfriend up in a hug. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. You know me, always rushing in headfirst." He soothed, rubbing her back in small circles. Adrien felt a stab of pain in his heart. The girl he was steadily falling in love with was out there being attacked by an Akuma, he had the powers to help her, but he couldn't _do_ anything until he could sneak away. 

Unfortunately, just because his friends were having a moment, didn't mean that they stopped paying attention to him. As evidenced by the fact that he was pulled back into Nino from having his shirt yanked so hard. "Not so fast, Agreste. Where do you think you're going?" Alya stated hands on her hips. There was no way she could go from crying to intimidating so fast, but that is exactly what happened. 

"Er," Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck. "The bathroom?" Weak. What was _that_? He has had to escape from questioning gazes and curious friends before, so why was he blanking on an excuse _now_. When Marinette _needed_ him _now_. 

"Are you sure? Or are you sneaking out to go find Marinette?" And he didn't know _how_ she managed it, but Alya towered over him, her face pinched into a scowl. Adrien gulped. 

"I- I'm sure." He said slapping Nino's hand in an attempt to make him let his shirt go. By this point the class has moved away from the window and were now trying to leave. To go find Marinette or to let this be an excuse to cut out one period early, Adrien didn't know. 

Nino and Alya were _not_ amused and most definitely were _not_ buying what he was trying to sell. He couldn't tell them he was Chat Noir, so he did the next best thing. He took off his outer shirt, grabbed Plagg and, as quickly as he could, ran out of the classroom. His fellow classmates were helpful to his running away, hindering Alya and Nino. 

Adrien ducked into an empty room where he released Plagg from his grip. "You know, you should really wash those sometimes, kid. They taste awful." The Kwami said as he patted his fur down. Adrien just rolled his eyes. 

"You eat stinky cheese all day and yet complain when my hands are a little sweaty." He told the black Kwami. 

"I resent that. Cheese is the best thing you lot ever invented!" Plagg raised a paw and shook it in Adriens face. 

As Adrien was going to reply, he heard two small gasps coming from the doorway. _Merde_. He turned to see his two friends, jaws on the floor, eyes tracking Plagg, who just floated over to them and introduced himself. 

"Hello! I'm Plagg, you must be Nino and Alya. Nice to finally meet you. I would stick around for some questions, but for now, we have to save that nice smelling girl. _Au Revoir_!" He said that last part as he was sucked into the ring, Adrien having invoked the magic words, though reluctantly on his part. 

So he _technically_ told his friends he was Chat Noir. Turning to face them, Nino looked sad, but Alya looked estatic. " _Nom de Dieu_! You _bâtard_! How could you hide this from us!" Chat saw the fury, but underneath it, he saw the worry as well. Both of them were worried for him. 

"I'm sorry, I can't explain this right now! Marinette's in trouble, I have to go!" Chat moved towards the windows. 

At the sound of her best friends name, Alya moved past her anger. "Bring her back, okay?" her voice smaller than it's ever been. It broke both boys' hearts to hear it so low. 

Chat Noir just nodded and lept out of the window, baton in hand. So much for his good day theory.  
\--  
Marinette _really_ hated her plan, but she saw no other way to get the Akuma to back off. _Hopefully Chat is aware of this_ , she caught herself thinking as she ducked from yet _another_ blast of whatever the Akuma was made up of. 

She hadn't seen an Akuma like this before. He seemed to be melting and stretching all at the same time, and it was freaking Marinette _out_. She had nightmares about Akuma's before, but this one would be sticking around for a long time to come. 

When he walked- if she could call it that- Marinette could see a skin tight neon blue suit underneath the skin coloured _mess_ that he was. She couldn't find out where the Akuma was hiding, but she at least knew how to keep him occupied while waiting for Chat Noir to show himself. 

Marinette ran into the steel fence that overlooked the small winding river that she prayed wasn't too cold for this early in the season. "Looks like you've run out of places to go, Marinette Dupain-Cheng." The Akuma taunted. 

She turned around to face him, pulling her purse over her head and slipping it onto the ground. "That's what you think." Marinette said before she hopped the fence, sliding down the small slope before plunging into the lazy river below. 

Oh, it was _much_ colder than she thought it would be, but she just clenched her jaw and swam a little ways away from the bank, knowing the Akuma wouldn't be too far behind. Only, when his hand hit the water, the covering surrounding his body broke apart to be carried down stream. He shrieked, eyes murderous as they locked with hers. 

Marinette smiled through her shivers, her limbs feeling like lead, her mind telling her to sleep. "Gotcha!" She forced out through her clacking teeth. Victorious and getting hypothermia, she still thought that this was better than the two weeks worth of paranoia. 

"You!" He yelled, a light purple butterfly design floated before his eyes. _Seems like Le Papillion had a few choice words as well_ , she thought as she looked around for her partner. _There!_ He had just arrived and hung back at the slight shake of her head. Luckily for both of them, the Akuma was too preoccupied by what Le Papillion was telling him to notice the small exchange. 

When the butterfly design faded from his eyes, Marinette made a show of looking over his shoulder in the opposite direction of where Chat Noir waited. "Ladybug! He can't touch water!" She shouted to the air, making sure her voice carried far enough to where Chat was slinking towards the two. The Akuma turned around violently, not seeing when Chat Noir slid his baton over to the shivering girl, bringing her out of the water and carrying her to somewhere warm. 

When he did look back, it was to an empty river, and a baton to the face. "Why are you after Marinette?" Chat Noir asked, seeing red as the Akuma just smiled. 

"The reason?" He asked slowly as he melted his way towards Chat. "You." He said before striking, missing by a hairs breadth. Chat had gathered some water in Marinette's purse-she emptied it first- and threw the small amount on him, reavealing a pendant around his neck. 

_That must be the Akuma_ , Chat thought, about to grab it when his claws collided with the skin coloured goop that had regenerated while Chat was busy looking at the guys necklace. "Not so fast!" Chat heard off to the side, his wrist yanking back, away from the Akumas chest. 

He looked over to see his Lady, her eyes scanning the area, making deductions as to what had transpired here. "Marinette flagged me down and gave me the gist of the Akumas powers. Are you ready to get wet, _chaton_?" Ladybug asked teasingly as she tossed her partner over the steel fence and into the river. 

He immediately lept out, not understanding how Marinette had withstood the cold temperature for so long. "This cat pre-furs dry land, My Lady." He quipped as he hopped up the bank to where she stood. 

"I'm sure, but it looked like you could use a good bath." She replied back, quick as a whip. "My turn now, though." She said before she back flipped over the fence and into the murky water below. 

Chat Noir turned back to the Akuma who was, surprisingly, ignoring both heroes. It looked as if he were searching for something. _Or someone_ , Chat thought as he moved in front of the Akuma to get his attention. "You know, I never even got your name. How rude of me." He said as he swung his baton at the Akuma. 

"I'm Chat Noir, as you may already know." He continued, but stopped when, instead of hitting the Akumas chest, or bouncing off, his baton was _sucked into his side_. 

"Well, that's new." Chat said to himself as he tried to pull his weapon out. 

"I am Le Goudron, and you silly weapons will not work on me." The Akuma stated as he took a deep breath in, sucking Chat's baton even further into his side. 

"Want to bet?" Chat Noir asked as he called forth his Cataclysm. He aimed right for where the Akuma pendant was, his damp hand allowing him to go further into Le Goudrons tar than he could on his own. 

His aim struck true, as Le Goudrons outer shell faded away to reveal a man in a skin tight neon blue suit. The pendant laid on the ground between them, the strand was broken, but the Akuma wasn't released just yet. Chat could already see the tar reforming and went to reach for the Akuma, when Ladybugs yo-yo shot out and smashed the pendant. 

She had been out of the water for a few minutes, trying to gauge where the Akuma was and also trying to figure out why Le Papillion was targeting her civilian self. She saw how Chat lost his baton, and was about to step in when he sank his hand into the Akumas chest. She saw the pendant hit the ground and that's when she struck. She saw how heartbroken he seemed over what the Akuma told him. 

Ladybug want over to where the recuperating victim was kneeling, putting a hand on his back when she knelt. "Do you remember anything?" She asked. Normally she wouldn't have, but she had a feeling about Le Papillion targeting her civilian self, and it wasn't a good one. 

"I just...A voice told me to go after this girl. I didn't- I wasn't- I was just walking along when I suddenly felt like I was angry at the world. He said that the only way to stop that feeling would be to bring her to him. I- I'm sorry if I hurt her, but I- I was just so _angry_." 

Ladybug soother him. "It's okay. She's not hur-" She started, but Chat Noir interrupted her. 

" _Yes_ , she is!" He said, flinging his anger at _her_ instead of the victim. "She was in that river for who knows how long before I showed up! Where were _you?_ " He pointed at her, his chest heaving. 

"I was on the other side of town. I hadn't heard about the attack until I saw it on the Ladyblog." She defended, crossing her arms in front of her. "Besides, I helped Marinette get somewhere warm before joining you. Now, your ring is beeping, you had better go, Chat." 

He just scoffed at her before taking off in the direction of the school. He could pretend to have been looking for Marinette with Alya and Nino. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im totally all for mari doing hardcore parkour and her friends having heartattacks from watching their precious clumsy cinnamonroll doing all these stunts
> 
> Also:  
> Nom de Dieu= oh my god!  
> batard= bastard  
> maladroit= butterfingers  
> merde= shit  
> au revoir= goodbye


	8. Last Day Of Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> basically a filler episode with some SIN:)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wherein i add a vague NCIS reference to please my inner TIVA  
> oh, also, SPOILER ALERT: this is the last time they are happy for a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooong while :)

Marinette was shivering in the Ambulance. She was wrapped up in _three_ foil like blankets, her teeth chattering, her lips blue, surrounded by three very concerned friends. It turns out that Alya, Nino and Adrien had slipped out of class and followed the Akuma. 

"That was very dangerous, you guys! You could've been hurt!" She yelled at them as Alya huddled close to her to give her more warmth. It was very hard to yell at your friend when they were hugging you, she found out.

" _We_ could've been hurt? Marinette, _you jumped out a two story building!_ " Nino yelled at her in place of Alya, who was doing her best to stay close while simultaneously drying her hair.

"It was the only way I could think of to keep him away from you guys!" She defended herself while silently adding the _and also to keep my identity a secret_.

"And jumping in below zero water?" Adrien added which made her stomach do flips despite her protests.

"Th-That was because I knew the Akuma p-person couldn't hurt me th-there." She almost bit her tongue off, but they were almost to the hospital. She had protested at first, just wanting to get home and be in _dry_ clothes and be _warm_. Alya had insisted, and so had her parents, whom Alya called to make sure she would go get checked out.

"How could you _possibly_ know he wouldn't reach you in the water?" Nino asked, Adrien and Alya nodding along to the question.

"Well....," she didn't know how to tell them without it sounding fake. "I noticed when he attacked that the stuff he shot out-"

"Tar." Adrien corrected her. She didn't know how he knew that, but she figured the Akuma had given his name when Ladybug was in the water and Adrien had heard.

"Okay. When the tar hit my face, I batted it away and it didn't seem to like, well," she went quiet, realising just _what_ she was about to say. She couldn't very well say this in front of _Adrien Agreste_. She still liked him even though she was pretty sure she was moving on.

"What?" Alya prompted, clearly interested in a good Akuma story no matter what.

"It didn't seem to like mixing with my sweat." She said fast, burying her head in the blankets. It was suddenly way too hot in here.

"S-So I thought that i-it didn't like water." She finished, mumbling it into the blankets. They had just pulled into the hospital, which Marinette was thankful for. She didn't look any of her friends in the eye as she got out, relying on Alya to make it out of the Ambulance without tripping.

"That's genius, Marinette!" Adrien exclaimed, which made Nino and Alya give him a funny look, not that Marinette saw, as her eyes were on the ground. Adrien just gave them a look back, as if to say 'Cut it out!'.

Marinette heard snickering, which she thought was for her, so her ears went red along with her face. The only good thing to come from her embarrassment was that she no longer felt like her limbs were going to detach from her torso in protest of being so cold.  
\--  
Marinette sneezed for what felt like the millionth time. Her head was pounding to the beat of her heart, which felt like it was going too fast. She had dozens of tissue boxes surrounding her, some full, some empty, all were going to be used.

"Ugh, my noths sthoppeded up." She said to Tikki, who was staying as far away from her as possible. Marinette thought it was rude, wondering through her brain fog if Kwami's could even _get_ colds.

"I'm sorry about that, Princess." Chat's voice rang out above her. She took a while for it to register in her brain, the words echoing, going fuzzy at the ends.

"Chat?" She asked, looking around her room for the outline of him. She heard a chuckle before her vision was taken over by black.

"I'm right here, Princess." He said, smiling at her. Even though she was pretty sure she was hallucinating the stars that danced around him, she was sure that there was a sadness in his eyes that didn't make sense to her. Just like him _yelling at Ladybug_ made no sense to her.

"Are you okay, _mon mimi_?" She asked, grabbing a tissue, trying to quietly blow her nose. She hated being sick, but it _was_ thanks to her brilliant idea. She had jumped into the freezing water not just once, but _twice_. Marinette was going to have a long talk with herself about doing stupid things once she was healthy enough to not have a headache by just _thinking_.

"I'm fine. I'm just worried about you, is all." Chat replied. She could tell he was lying, he saw it in her eyes, but he was _not_ going to tell her that the reason the Akuma cam after her was because of him. He already felt guilty enough.

Instead of replying, Marinette scooted over in her bed, patting the space she had just left in an open invitation. "Just don't get too close. I don't know if I'm contagious or not." She told him, leaning away as he tried to snuggle up to her.

"Aw, my Princess is worried about me!" Chat said mockingly, hand over his heart. Marinette just threw a tissue box at him.

"Not so loud, Chat. My head feels like a cotton ball someone set on fire." She closed her eyes, her motions slow as she rubbed her forehead.

"Sorry." He whispered as he set his head on her shoulder. "I'll just lay here quietly for a while."

"Hmm." Marinette replied, already drifting into a hazy sleep. His presence was nice. It made her feel safe, made her feel like she didn't have to pretend to be okay, made her feel like she could be herself.

 

A little after midnight, Chat stirred from his slumber only to recognize that he was in Marinette's room. He slowly moved out of her bed, carefully placing her down in her bed before tucking her in. "Goodnight, Princess." He said as he placed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

Marinette woke up enough to register the heat of his lips. Despite her fever, she found she didn't mind the searing imprint.  
\--  
"Okay, take two." Alya said jokingly as they stood by the crafts table, Nino shoving every food that would fit on the tiny plates provided.

"Ha ha." Marinette replied, sniffling despite the fact that it had been a couple of days after the Akuma had went after her.

"No, but really. This is like the second take on our plans." Alya went on to explain. "I mean, here we are at Adriens photo shoot, afterwards we're going to the market place, think about it!"

"I understand." Nino said through three beignet's. Alya and Marinette just laughed as the powdered sugar flew out of his mouths in puffs as he spoke. Nearby a set worker cleared their throat and gave them a harsh look. This just made all three of them laugh, much to the workers chagrin.

"Sorry." Marinette said in between laughs. Nino still had the beignet's in his mouth, and his laughing had worsened the spill of powdered sugar. It was hard not to laugh at that.

"Hey guys! Just one more outfit and we can go- _oh my god_ , Nino!" Adrien started before he, too, was laughing at the mess that Nino was causing. Alya was trying to hold her phone steady as she recorded Nino crying through his laughter.

"What is taking so long?" The photographer loudly expressed, which snapped Adrien out of his laughing. He quickly went back to the make-up department before running past his three laughing friends and onto the set.

 

Adrien had set the laughing-crying Nino as his phones new lock screen. It was a excellent photo, Alya had perfectly timed it when watching her video, a little puff of powdered sugar shooting from his mouth.

The boy in question was taking the laughing at him remarkably well. "It was so funny, I'm not even sure how we stopped laughing at it." Nino said, trying to tamp down the giggles that came forth from remembering.

"The set director came over to yell at us and kicked us out." Marinette said through her own giggles. In truth, that had only made the three laugh harder.

"The spitting and cursing didn't help matters." Alya inputted, typing away on her phone.

"So, what should we do first?" Adrien asked, ever the diplomat. Marinette couldn't blame him, the director threatened to contact his father over their behaviour, but Adrien pleaded him down to just kicking them off the set for the last couple of minutes of the shoot. _"Not that that would stop him from calling my father."_ Adrien had told them as they left the shoot, his driver turning about to take them to the market.

"Well, I ate at your shoot, so maybe we could shop around for a few minutes before I get hungry again." Nino joked.

"My fathers birthday _is_ coming up, so it would be nice to look for something." Marinette said, pulling out a list of things she wrote down to get for her father. Of course, she wasn't going to get everything written, but it was a nice reminder of what to look for.

"I didn't know it was your dads birthday." Adrien said, leaning over to look at her list. Marinette swallowed a small shriek as she felt his breath on her cheek.

"Y-yeah. It's in a couple of days and I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out the perfect gift."

"You gave him that last year." Alya reminded Marinette as she put her phone away, elbowing Nino in the stomach as he tried to steal it to see what she was typing.

"What'd you get him?" Adrien asked.

"I made him an apron that had baker puns on them. My dad is almost as bad as Chat Noir." Marinette added as an after thought, freezing as she realised that none of her friends knew how she knew the Parisian hero.

Instead of flinging questions at her, though, Alya froze as well. Adriens laugh interrupting Marinette's thought process.

"Aw, that must've been _pain_ ful for you to do." Adrien snickered. Marinette groaned. 

"Not you, too! I am surrounded by _stale_ puns!" Marinette said, leaning her head back until it hit the top of the seat.

"Oh no! We'll have to find some that cause less _fric_ tion."

"I've had en _œuf_ of your Tarte Conversation." Marinette replied, which made Alya look at her weird.

"What is happening? Is Marinette Dupain-Cheng _actually_ making _puns_? Has the world ended?" She asked as she looked out the limo's tinted window.

Adrien was just grinning at her, a sparkle in his eyes that told her that he had _plenty_ more puns left. So she decided to put a stop to this.

"I d _Éclair_ this whole _loaf_ some situation to be over." She said with an air of finality. It was further punctuated as the limo came to a stop. They had arrived at the market.  
\--  
Adrien didn't know if it was possible to die of humiliation, but the situation he was in now was certainly a good place to test the theory. His father had come home early, only to see Adrien lying on top of Marinette in an accident _"I swear, mon père!"_.

Alya was on his computer updating her Ladyblog, Nino was in the bathroom, and Marinette had just gotten up to throw away her trash when she tripped. Adrien had been trying to catch her, but together they fell in a heap on the floor, which was when Nathalie opened the door for his father to walk through to see him and Marinette like they were.

His father had just raised an eyebrow, his face forming a frown, before turning to Nathalie and saying, as cool as could be, "Remind me to have someone brought in to have _the talk_ with Adrien later this evening."

Nathalie nodded, jotting the note down on her tablet. Adrien spluttered as he rose from his position. "Father, it wasn't like that!" He looked back to where Marinette was still on the ground. Her face was flushed and one of her hands was brought up to her lips.

"Marinette- She tripped and we fell!" Adrien knew, he _knew_ his father would use this situation against him as to why he wasn't allowed to bring guests over.

"Adrien, need I remind you that you haven't been given permission to bring friends over?" His father told him, which seemed to snap Marinette out of her head. She stood and went over to Adrien's side, briefly leaning into his shoulder before turning an impressive glare at his father.

"Sir, we were just here to eat. Adrien's schedule makes it so he gets little time to hang out, so we tried to be accommodating. Also, he did try to call you, but your assistant said you were busy, so if we have overstepped, then I apologize." Adrien could see her hands were clenched at her sides, and he fought to keep the smile from his face. Marinette standing up to his father for him was very _hot_.

Gabriel Agreste just looked down his nose at her, before dismissing her altogether. "Very well. I will permit the to be here for today and today _only_." He said before he swept out of the room in what Adrien liked to call his _'I am better than you, look at how I glide'_ walk. Plagg liked to imitate it when they were alone.

"Thanks Marinette." He said, laying a hand on her shoulder. They smiled at one another, and he was about to ask her a question, when Alya cleared her throat. She gave him a knowing look, hands on her hips, eyes accusatory. Adrien reluctantly removed his hand from Marinette's shoulder.

"Adrien, could I talk to you over here for a minute? I need to ask you some questions about your computer." Alya said, sounding much scarier than his dad. They walked over to where his computer monitors were, Marinette staying to pick up her trash that got thrown about when they fell.

Alya just glared at him, crossing her arms in front of her. "What's going on between you and Marinette?" She asked him.

"What! No- Nothing!" He stuttered. _Technically_ that was true. Adrien had nothing going on with Marinette, _Chat Noir_ on the other hand, had- hopefully- a relationship with her.

"Uh huh. You do realise that for the better part of the day you have been flirting with her, right?"

"N-No I haven't! I was- I'm just- I want to be her _friend_." He said, waving his arms widely about. "Besides," he added, "you of all people should know that Chat Noir is in love with _Ladybug_." he said, although that was no longer true.

"Aw man!" Marinette cried out, which made Adrien look over to see her lick her way up to her wrist, her having spilled some of her leftover soda. Adrien didn't notice his face growing red, but Alya did. She looked him up and down before grinning at him knowingly. He just rubbed the back of his neck, which drew her eyes to it.

She snatched his hand away and stared at the faded bruising there. Adrien silently cursed, forgetting that the Make-up department had only lightly dusted his neck with concealer. She grinned, and he did _not_ like that glint in her eyes one bit.

"You know, it's funny you say that, because I've been getting some pictures sent to my blog account where a certain _cat_ that happens to be _black_ , has been seen in the surrounding area of where dear Marinette lives." She spread her hands out in a 'care to explain' gesture.

Adrien's face went white. "You have to delete those!" he whispered at her loudly. His finger pointed at her, which she smacked aside, her grin growing bigger.

"Ha! I _knew_ it! There are no pictures, but I _so knew it!_ " She did a little happy dance.

"I also called it, too. Maybe I'm a little psychic." She looked down at her hands in wonder.

Adrien raised his eyebrow at her. "So you 'called' Chat falling for her, and that makes you psychic?" He thought back to before winter break when the blogger made up the story about how Marinette got her injuries.

"Hey! I'll have you know I called you being Chat Noir! I was on the correct path!"she smiled, looking at nothing in particular, her fist pumping in good cheer before her victorious mood was washed away by anger. She punched him in the arm really hard.

"You little _bitte_! You shouldn't be leading her on! She has only _just_ started to get over you! Which I am now realising that she's moving on from you by being with..you." Alya started out hitting him, to trying to hold in her laughter.

Adrien, however, was confused. "Wait, Marinette likes _me_?" He asked, referring to his civilian self. He looked over to where she was chatting with Nino, who was attempting his rock climbing wall.

Alya snorted. "Like you didn't know." she said dismissively, but then looked closer at him when he just stared at him. Her eyes widened. "Are you _serious_? She was being _completely obvious_ about it!"

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck again. "I've never been good at reading people. Plus, last year was my first year of school with other kids my age."

Alya snorted again. "You're _so_ helpless." Adrien resented that.

"I resent that." He told her. Great, he sounded like a five year old. Perfect.

"Just," Alya started, getting serious again. "If you're not going to tell her, then _please_ try not to confuse her. I won't meddle and tell her myself, but just," she looked over his shoulder at where Marinette was, "if you break her heart, if you hurt her, I _will_ make your life a _living Hell_." He didn't doubt that _at all_.

"And if you _think_ we aren't going to discuss you being _fucking Chat Noir Superhero of Paris_ then you are mistaken." Adrien winces at this, smiling through the pain of thinking about how that talk would go exactly.

He nods at her, which made a small smile grace her face. She ruffled his hair before going over to join her boyfriend and best friend. "Nino, What have I told you about trying to show off?" Alya called out to the boy who was trying to do a back-flip off the rock wall.

Marinette giggled as Nino just wagged his butt at the two below him. "It's not showing off if you're just that _awesome_." He stated, before his hand slipped and he had to catch himself so he wouldn't fall. This set off another bout of giggles from Marinette and a loud belly laugh from Alya.

"Sure, _mon cochon_. You just _ooze_ swagger." Alya teased as she went up to him to flick him on the butt. Nino yelped, slipping more before he finally gave up on climbing the wall. Adrien held back a smile, that particular spot Nino was climbing was a difficult one. He knew from experience.

"Now," Marinette said as she fake popped her knuckles, rolling her head from side to side to imitate her stretching. "Let a _true_ professional show you how it's done." She moved Nino aside, winking at Alya, who fake fainted into Nino's side.

"Are you kidding?" Nino asked, an air of superiority around him. "You're so clumsy you can't even walk in a _straight line_ , let alone climb this wall."

Marinette said nothing as she took off her shoes and approached the wall. She looked it up and down, as if to size it up before turning to Nino. "Wanna bet?"

"Okay. What's the wager?" Nino rubbed his hands together, probably thinking about Tatre Tatin. Alya just rolled her eyes, knowing that Marinette would win. Her friend was surprisingly agile when it came to certain things, like rock climbing for one.

Marinette pretended to think about it for a moment. "Hmm, well, if _I_ win, you have to listen to only five songs of Alya's choosing for a _whole month._ And if _you_ win, I'll be your _personal_ chef for a whole month."

Nino hesitated. While Marinette making his meals _did_ sound appealing, the small chance that he would _lose_ and have to listen to songs _Alya_ picked out was most definitely _not_ appealing. His girlfriend hit him in the shoulder as if she could tell what he was thinking.

" _Fine_ ," he said. "We have a deal." They shook hands, Marinette smirking and Nino feeling like he was going to regret this decision.

He was right. A few minutes later, Marinette was back on the ground, dusting off her hands. Adrien knew his jaw was on the floor, but he couldn't pick it back up. Would this girl ever not surprise him? 

Marinette patted Nino on the shoulder. "You know, we could call off the bet." she said as she gave him a sympathetic look. Nino just waved her off.

"Nah. A deals a deal." He turned to his girlfriend who had already picked out the five songs that Nino would be stuck with for a month. "Please go easy on me, _ma bichette_." he said, giving her his puppy eyes.

"Too late. I picked the songs before you two had even shook hands." Alya said as she flung an arm around Nino, showing him her phone. He groaned as he saw her choices, throwing his head onto her shoulder. 

"Please, have mercy!" He pleaded, hands in front of him as he begged. Alya just smiled at him, shaking her head.

"Oh, no! You're not getting out of this Hell I've created for you! Thanks for the excellent set up there, Mar." Alya said, directing her thanks to the pig-tailed girl who was putting her shoes back on.

"Well, I figured I'd finally hold up my end of the bargain." Marinette responded, facing Alya to do this complicated handshake.

"Wait!" Nino shouted, his eyes glancing between the two of them. "What do you mean by that?"

"Was this planned?" Adrien cut in before either Alya or Marinette could respond. Marinette looked at the ground sheepishly, rubbing her neck.

"Sorry, Nino." the pig tailed girl mumbled, but Adrien could tell from here that she was fighting off a smile.

Nino just made a wheezing noise as Alya dragged him to the couch. Adrien thought Nino was exaggerating about the song thing. Surely Aya's picks for him wouldn't be _too_ bad. Adrien walked over to take a look at the blogger's phone, Marinette not too far behind him.

"We made a deal, and this was my part of it! I really am sorry!" Marinette explained, but her apology was kind of ruined by her laughing. Nino was still wheezing and making weird sobbing noises, he didn't seem to have heard Marinette apologizing to him.

"What was Alya's part of the deal?" Adrien asked, leaning on the back of the couch to face the pig tailed girl. The blush that spread across her face was lovely and brought her freckles into sharp contrast.

"N-Nothing!" she shouted, waving her hands in front of her as if to erase the question. "Alya did nothing!" she continued, her words sounding disjointed.

Adrien just smiled at her being embarrassed. Now that he knew Marinette had a crush on him, he was realizing that all the interactions they had were not brief because she hated him or something, but because she _liked_ him.

"If by nothing you mean get you to actually give him the birthday gift you made him, then yeah, I did 'nothing'." Alya said as she turned in her seat, clearly over comforting her boyfriend.

Adrien furrowed his brows, frowning as he thought back to his birthday. "I don't recall any gifts from you, though." He would've remembered. At least, he _thinks_ he would have. They weren't such good friends then, so maybe it slipped his mind.

Marinette had a heated whispered conversation with Alya, both their hands flying in the space between them, before Alya jumped at her friend and dragged her over the back of the couch to where her legs were in the air. The blogger then sat on her, breath coming in heavy, fixing her hair as she turned towards Adrien.

"She made you that scarf that you thought was from your dad, only she never told you because you looked so happy to have your dad give you something so personal." She said in one breath, going so fast that it took a couple of seconds for the words to fully register to Adrien.

He moved from where he was leaning, walked over to his bed to pick up the scarf in question and walked back over to where Marinette had gotten out from underneath Alya and was now glaring at her. He held out the scarf.

"You made this for me?" He asked, his eyes holding some sort of plea that Marinette could not quite work out. It was as if they were asking more than one question at a time, but she could barely decipher the first one. She didn't want to tell him, didn't want to see the look of hurt on his face when he realised his father hadn't gotten him anything.

"This was from you?" he asked again, phrasing the question differently. Marinette bit her lip but nodded sharply anyways.

"Why?" Adrien asked, his voice coming out as a whisper. He retracted his arm so he was clutching the scarf to his chest, rubbing the material between his fingers. The realisation of why the scarf Marinette had knitted for Chat Noir seemed familiar just hit him. He needed to sit down.

"I- I really liked you and I wanted to confess so many times, but I was so nervous around you, but when your birthday came up, I thought it would be the perfect time to confess," Marinette explained, not looking him in the eye as she did so. Instead, she focused her eyes off to the side. Her expression reminded Adrien of the night he met Ladybug as his civilian self. Both had a faraway look to their eyes, both looked a little lost, both were, he was just realising, more than what he had previously thought.

"So Alya and I had made that deal, but before I could give it to you, Chloè was talking to you, and then it was time for class, and then I chickened out, and then after school it was too late because you had a shoot. So Alya and I went to your house to leave it there, but I forgot to put my name on it, so I went back to add it, but the sticky note must've fallen off or something."

Adrien didn't know what to say to that, didn't know how to respond to that, but he _did_ know that he would _not_ cry at the words _'I really liked you'_. _Liked_ as in _past tense_. _Liked_ as in she's _moved on_. _Liked_ as in she had feelings for _Chat_. 

"Are-," Marinette started, darting her eyes to his face before going back to where she was looking. "Are you mad at me?" she asked, wringing her hands and biting her lip.

Adrien had to fight the grin that threatened to spread across his face. Marinette was just so _Marinette_ sometimes. "No," he said softly, "I'm not mad." Marinette's eyes widened and met his at his tone. He sounded- it sounded- like he was saying something else, and that something else was that Adrien Agreste liked her. 

He held her gaze, his eyes filled with something she dare not name, because she had _just_ gotten over him, he _could not_ pull her back in again. He was confusing her, and she did _not_ want to do this to Chat.

Off to the side Alya cleared her throat, which diverted Marinette's attention back to her best friend, who she was _very cross_ with. "Marinette, we've got to go." Alya tells her, widening her eyes and giving her a look that says 'you know what for'.

Marinette frowns in confusion, looking over at the clock. The didn't have anywhere else to go. She turns to tell Alya this, but the blogger just snatches up her arm before she can open her mouth. "We're so _very_ sorry, but we have to go to an important _thing_ now." Alya tells the boys, while digging her elbow in Marinette's side and rushing her out Adriens bedroom door.

"Bye _mon petit cul poilu_! Bye Adrien!" Alya, human hurricane, calls out behind her as she shoves Marinette through the halls and out of Adrien's house.

"Alya!" Marinette yells, digging in her heels when they hit the pavement outside the Agreste's mansion gates. "What's your rush? We don't have anything else to go to!"

Alya just crossed her arms and gave her a knowing look. Marinette flinched as she shuffled her feet, looking down at them. It felt like she was being scolded by her mother, but with Alya, it felt _worse_ somehow.

"Marinette _however you say your middle name_ Dupain-Cheng!" Alya yelled before punching her friend in the shoulder, a grin on her face and a sly glimmer in her eyes.

Marinette rubbed her shoulder, looking at her friend like she had just grown a second head. "Wh-What?" She was so confused. "I'm not understanding something here."

Alya just grinned even harder, linking her arm through Marinette's before leading them away from the Agreste Mansion. "You just spent the whole day flirting with one Adrien Agreste and are not a complete stuttering mess, congratulation."

As if to make up for that, Marinette found herself spluttering as the words _'the whole day flirting with'_ and _'Adrien Agreste'_ , floated in one ear and out the other, dancing in front of her as she tried to find a way to say something, _anything_ to disprove what Alya had said.

"I- No! That- Flirtin- What- Wrong!" was all that came out, and yet Alya was treating this like it was a full sentence.

"Whatever you say. Although, I don't think your boyfriend is going to be too happy to hear this." the blogger said slyly, side eyeing her friend to gauge her reaction. She was not disappointed as Marinette was, once again, stuttering to deny what Alya had said.

"What?" Marinette's voice came out all squeaky. "There's no boyfriend," she said desperately, "Why would you say I have a boyfriend, when I don't. Have one, that is. I mean, I have boy _friends_ , boys who are _friends_ , but not a _boy_ friend." She looked over at her grinning friend. "This isn't convincing you, is it?" she asked, shoulders deflating.

"Nope!" Alya said, her grin coming back in full force. Marinette ducked her head, rubbing the back of her neck. 

"You don't have to tell me about him if you don't want to." Alya told her, patting her gently on the hand that was trapped in the blogger's death grip. Marinette looked at her like she was an alien.

"What?" Alya asked, raising an eyebrow. "I figured you had a good reason for not telling me about him, but if you _do_ want to talk boys, let me know." she said, her grin turning wicked as she wiggled her eyebrows. _I already have a good source for the juicy details anyways_ , Alya thought to herself silently in her head, planning a 'spill sesh' with Adrien as they arrived at Alya's house.

Marinette looked at it, tilting her head as they approached the gates. "Does you house look _bigger_ for some reason?" she asked as Alya pressed the buzzer.

"Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you. Dad put in two new wings." Alya said as the gate popped open, stopping in her walk when Marinette jumped on her back, squealing.

"Oh my goodness! Your mom is having twins! _Twins_ , Alya!" Marinette screamed, bouncing up and down with her friend still in her grip.

"O- _kay_!" Alya yelled over Marinette's excited screaming. "Yes! She's having twins! And hopefully these two will turn out less evil then their predecessors." Alya said, that last part more bitterly than the rest.

Marinette just laughed, letting go of her friend to face her. "Oh you know you love the twins!"

Alya just rolled her eyes. "They are little devils who were sent to the mortal plain just to torture me specifically!" she spewed as they started their walk up to the front doors.

"Whatever you say." Marinette said, her tone teasing. The double doors opened to reveal Enzo, the main butler who just smiled at the two girls.

"You heard about the twins, eh?" He asked Marinette, a smile appearing on his face. His thick Algerian French accent a comfort. 

"Yeah. Looks like you and Noémie will have your hands even _more_ full." Marinette commented.

Enzo just sighed lovingly. "Oh no, I truly don't mind. A house such as this deserves all the happy pitter pattering of the feet of little one's." Marinette just giggled at his words, taking off her shoes.

"Certainly. I just hope they go easy on you with those puppy eye's the Cesaire's are famous for." Marinette joked before joining Alya, who was greeting Noémie further down the foyer.

"Man, now that I can compare them, I think you are actually _richer_ than Adrien." Marinette said as she looked up and down the hallway they were in. Alya just smacked her shoulder.

"You _know_ the only reason my house looks better is because my dad is _the best_ carpenter and architect in all of France." Alya bragged. Marinette raised her hands in surrender, rolling her eyes as they continued down the hall and into Alya's parlour.

"Well that _and_ the fact that this house has actual _colours_ and warmth and the Agreste Masion looks like a crypt. I mean, does M. Agreste even _know_ about colours?" Alya continued, tossing her bags on her chaise before opening the doors to her bedroom.

Marinette set her bags down carefully before winding her way through the two rooms and flopping down on Alya's bed. She was in love with Alya's bed. It was like a cloud that she never wanted to get off of.

Alya laid down right next to her, only on her back instead of on her face. "Today was fun, huh?" she asked, digging her shoulders further into her bed, voice laced with sleep.

"Hmm." Marinette replied, her mind already drifting into the fog of sleep. It wasn't really that late, but both of them were worn out from walking around all day. Marinette turned her head to face the drowsy Alya.

"'M glad you and Nino were able to go on a date." she said, yawning so big her jaw cracked at the joints. They snuggled together, both with sleepy happy smiles on their faces.

"'M glad you and Chatdrien were able to go on a date." Alya replied, not noticing her slip in her sleep. It didn't matter, though, as Marinette was already snoring slightly.  
\--  
Marinette had made it back to her house just as her parents were closing up shop. She apologized for staying out so late, but her parents waved it off. They were used to her staying out late, whether because of Alya, or because she had a stroke of inspiration for her designs and needed a certain fabric right that second.

She went up to her room and gave Tikki a big cookie she snatched from the left over pile downstairs and started to undress for bed. She had just removed her pants when she heard a strangled sound coming from her left. Marinette turned to see Chat perched on her window sill, eyes wide and face red.

Marinette stilled, she was basically naked, only clothed in her underwear. "Chat!" she hissed at him, which snapped him into the present, making him turn his head away so fast he almost fell out of the window.

"S-Sorry!" he said, slapping one hand over his eyes. "I didn't see anything!" he lied, which she could tell because 1. he had gasped, and 2. his ears and what she could see of his neck was red.

Marinette quickly scrambled for her night clothes, her own face turning to match the shaggy haired superhero. He had entered her room, but was turning around to face the outside, his hand still over his eyes. It was then that Marinette remembered he had night vision, and he was aided by the half-moon which lit up her room. She was going to murder him.

"I'm going to _kill_ you." she told him, going over to punch him right between his shoulder blades, _hard_. Chat just stood as still as he could.

"I-I," he struggled before saying, "That seems fair." His voice was soft, as if saying it too loud would make her more mad.

"You can turn around now." she said, more harshly than she intended, but didn't apologise for the venom in her tone. She wanted him to know she was upset. Marinette hit him once more on his back before going over to her desk chair and sitting down in it, bringing her knees up so she could rest her head on them.

Chat turned slowly, almost afraid that Marinette was going to be de-clothed and angry that he was trying to sneak a peek. When their eyes met, their blushes darkened, his with desire, hers with embarrassment. He mechanically walked over to the chaise, hands coming up to rest on his knees, eyes staring ahead at her wall.

 

"What's up, _mon mimi_?" Marinette asked a couple of minutes later, effectively breaking the silence.

Chat looked over at her, his back aching from sitting so tensely. "I- I just wanted to see you. I missed you." he confessed, a small smile on his lips as he looked at her shocked face.

Marinette looked away briefly before turning back to meet his eyes. "I missed you, too." she replied, biting her lip. He held his hand out to her, an invitation, and she slowly stood, her body looking like a beautiful cascading waterfall that was floating towards him.

Instead of taking the seat next to him, though, she pushed his shoulders back before straddling his lap. Chat choked on his tongue, her weight adding a pleasant thrum to his heart. The semi-innocent air was now on fire and Chat couldn't find it in himself to slow it down.

His breathing sharpened when Marinette bit her lip again, her eyes drooping slightly as she settled, the friction going straight to Chat's head. He rested his hands on her hips, squeezing them slightly to make sure that she was actually here, that he wasn't just imagining this in his head. Her hands found his hair and her fingertips were taunting the back of his neck, giving just enough pressure to be felt, but not enough to do what he really wanted them to do.

They were both breathing heavily despite them not even having kissed each other yet. Chat felt his heartbeat in his lips, could vaguely feel the echo of her lips on his, he didn't think he ever felt his heart ache more than in this moment. The air charged with need, she was too far away for his liking, and yet he wanted to be trapped in this position for an eternity.

There was something so intense about their position, every nerve of his body was on alert, searching for her warmth, for the feeling of her skin, for the spark that she sent through him. And when she was close enough to kiss, they just stayed inches apart, breaths mingling, eyes never leaving each other. It was slow and hot and neither of them wanted to break the intensity.

Marinette's breath warmed his face, her pants coming faster and faster the longer they stared. Until he couldn't take the pressure anymore and he surged forward to kiss her, his hands gripping her hips even tighter to keep her steady. He could feel her thighs flexing, making him moan. Her hands were no longer taunting him, they were threaded into his hair, pulling, tugging, making his scalp tingle and sending jolts of pleasure down his spine.

They kissed fiercely, not caring if their teeth clacked together, or if their nails were too harsh. It was rough, it was fast, it was exactly what he needed. He pictured the day they had together, every time he wanted to kiss her and stopped himself. He pictured her wide eyes looking up at him as she worried he was mad at her. He pictured her lithe form, her skin glowing from the moons light. He put all of his need into his kisses, and received just as much from hers.

Chat soon found that she wasn't close enough, that his hands weren't satisfied with just staying at her hips, so as one tugged her even closer, the other scaled up her side, his thumb brushing the under-curve of her breast. The sound that came from her mouth made him do it again, and then again and again until he pulled it away to go under her shirt.

Marinette bit his lower lip when she felt his gloved hand hit the bare skin of her stomach. She bucked her hips into his when he teasingly cupped one of her breasts, tugging his hair until her lips were met with the skin of his neck. If Chat wanted to tease her, then she could give him a taste of his own medicine.

So she pulled on his bell until his collar bone was peaking out at her. She instantly licked at the small divot and traveled up to his pulse point, feeling it spike underneath her tongue. Marinette slowly bit into the flesh of his neck, turning it into a kiss, moaning when his hand slipped underneath her bra and she felt the fabric of his suit brush against her nipple.

His other hand reached around until he was hugging the small of her back, moving their hips together. They worked to find the slow rhythm, rocking them together like two waves meeting, crashing together perfectly. This differentiated from how they were kissing, both of them barely taking time to breathe, feeling the call of the others lips and heading it.

Chat broke the kiss again, working his way down her body until he met the edge of her shirt. He shoved it up, not wanting to break away to take it off properly. He felt her hands roam over his chest, nails scraping as she went adding to the fire building in his gut. He yanked her bra up, not even stopping to marvel at what it held, instantly replacing his hand with his mouth. They moaned simultaneously, her head crashing down into his shoulder, biting into it to muffle the sound.

Chat bit and suckled and nipped, figuring out what worked and didn't based off of how hard she clamped down on his shoulder, her thighs tightening in sync with her biting. He could feel her shaking as he traveled to the small valley in between her breasts, scraping his teeth there in a slow bite, mimicking what she did to his neck. He could feel her fingers gripping at his hair, and then he was torn from her skin, his face leveling with hers. 

Her pupils were blown and her cheeks were flushed, and he had never wanted her more. He leaned in to kiss her, but was surprised when she pushed him down instead, her hands coming up to yank at his bell, the zipper pulling down slowly to stop just above his belly button. Marinette slowly moved her hands, they worked their way into his suit, her fingertips, once again, whispering along his skin as she slid the upper part of his suit off of his shoulders.

She just as slowly removed her shirt, her bra still pushed up so he could see her pert breasts glowing in the moonlight. He felt it again, the tension, the charged air, and he loved it. His hands found her hips again as she slid off her bra, his eyes not knowing where to land, there was just so much he wanted to take in, so much he wanted to remember. Her eyes watching him, her soft skin illuminated in the light, her muscles shifting as she moved as she let down her hair, the way the soft tendrils cupped her face. It was too much, he wanted her so badly he could feel it build in his chest, could feel his heart struggling to contain what he felt for her.

And then she put her hands solidly on his chest, one over his heart, one close enough to stroke his nipple. And then she started to move her hips again, and the blue of wanting was washed over by the red hot colour of _lust_. Chat reached up, grabbed her shoulders and _pulled_ until he could feel her skin against his, the fire in his gut rekindling as he could finally _feel_ how soft it was, could feel how it rubbed against his, how her body melded into his.

They set a different pace this time. This time it was their hips that were wild, and their kisses that were slow, so achingly _slow_. Chat left one hand on her shoulder, coming around the back the grip it so she stayed on top of him. The other ran down the dip of her spine until he felt the curve of her ass, giving it a gentle squeeze as he pushed her further into him.

"Cha-at." she whispered as they pulled apart for air, foreheads resting on each others. She moaned when he squeezed again, their hips moving faster together. Chat could feel his end, could tell he was close and that she was even closer. He grunted as his lips went for her neck. He traced her name with his tongue, nipping at the flesh just off center of her throat, feeling her bite down on his shoulder again as she climaxed, her hips still rocking until he felt himself come.

She peppered his shoulder with kisses, her arms moving to hug him as she snuggled into the crook of his neck. He pulled her closer, the hand on her shoulder moving until it was hugging her into him, but he left his other hand on her ass, gripping it a little as they settled.

"I wish I could take my gloves off." he whispered into her hair, kissing the crown of her head.

"I wish you would stop ruining the moment by squeezing my butt." she replied, squealing when he put both hands on her ass.

"I shall not. It's a nice one." he said, emphasizing his words by squeezing it again. She bit his neck in retaliation.

They laid there in silence for a few minutes before Marinette spoke up. "I- I want to tell you something." She rose up onto her elbows, planting them on his chest.

"Okay." he said, wondering what she was going to say. _Maybe she figured out my secret_ , he thought, but the he saw the conflict in her eyes and wondered if she regretted what they just did. He was about to apologize when she opened her mouth.

"I- I love you, Chat Noir." she said haltingly before she got a look of determination in her eyes. "I love you." she repeated, the small smile making his heart skip a beat, stealing his breath away.

She bit her lip as he stared at her, her hands tracing patterns on his chest as she waited for his response. Chat couldn't think of what to say. He wanted to say so many things, wanted to shout out his joy, wanted to pull her down for another searing kiss, but he just laid there, staring at Marinette.

"I-It's okay!" she told him. "You don't have to say it back, I just- I wanted to say it. _Needed_ to say it." She made a move to get off of him, but Chat just held her in place.

"No," he whispered, the words were faint, even to him. "Wait. Please. Say it again." he told her, _begged_ her. It had been so long since someone had spoke those words to him. It had been so long since he had felt the warmth that was spreading in his chest.

"I love you, Chat Noir." she said again, her eyes so sincere as she said the words. His breath was stolen again, tears prickling at his eyes.

_"Thank you."_ he told her bringing one of her hands up to his lips to kiss.

_"Thank you."_ he told her as he moved down to kiss her wrist.

_"Thank you."_ he told her as he kissed the crease of her elbow.

_"Thank you."_ he told her as he moved on to her other hand. He thanked her as he kissed her hand, her wrist, the inside of her elbow, as he pulled her down to kiss her forehead, her eyelids, the tip of her nose.

_"Thank you."_ he told her as he pressed a light kiss to her lips, tears falling down his cheeks. She just moved to grip his head in between her hands.

_"I love you."_ she whispered as she kissed his forehead, as she kissed his eyelids, his cheeks, the tip of his nose, his lips.

"I am _in_ love with you." she whispered as she pulled away, not going far, resting her forehead on his.

He could feel the knot form in his throat, could feel the surge of tears, could feel the his heart lurch. He took a wet, shaky breath, closing his eyes. He pulled her close to him, focusing on the warmth of her, the weight of her, the up and down of her chest as she breathed.

It felt like an eternity between every inhale and every exhale he created as he tried to match hers, breath for breath. All the while she just smoothed his hair, what little she could reach, running her fingers through the strands, nails lightly scraping his scalp. She was grounding him, shielding him from the dark thoughts creeping into his head, whispering to him, murmuring, hinting at all the reasons to why this wouldn't work.

"I love you." he said harshly, his voice barely coming out, the lump in his throat hindering him. He swallowed, trying to get rid of it, before he tried again.

"I love you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng." he said fiercely, possessively, tightening his grip on her.

"I am _in_ love with you." he repeated her words, saying them as he exhaled, wanting her to know just how much of his heart she possessed, as a sob wracked his body. Just as he hadn't heard those words spoken to him in a long time, he hadn't uttered them in nearly just as long.

Marinette kissed his forehead, pressing her lips into the salty skin as hard as she could. "I know." she told him softly, her breath tickling his hair. It was like she was saying more than those two words. As if she knew just how much he had suffered growing up, as if she knew just how hard those words had hit him, as if she knew his very soul.

They stayed like that until the moon faded away and the sunlight lazily spilled into her room, warming the two as they gently dozed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so much happens in this chapter! okay, this was supposed to be just the four of them hanging out and having fun before shit hits the fan ( i figured i owed them at least THAT much). BUT then SIN happened and I actually like the way this turned out. this will be an even better way to induce ANGST. PLEASE BE GENTLE WITH ME THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I WAS SO DESCRIPTIVE WITH SMUT!
> 
> pain= bread  
> fric= dough (although it's like money dough instead of like, dough dough)  
> œuf= egg  
> Tarte Conversation= a french pastry  
> mon pere= my father ( i just really liked that it rhymed okay??)  
> bitte= prick (no, not the german word for please, i looked this up on google translate so it might be wrong, but eh)  
> ma bichette= my little doe  
> mon petit cul poilu= my little hairy ass (the vague NCIS reference i mentioned earlier that you prolly forgot about because of the horrible SIN)  
> also, i HC that mari's middle name is in chinese but i couldn't find a way to romanize the chinese characters so i just pretended that Alya can't pronounce it right (ps. it means blossoming flower if anyone wants to tell me how to spell that)
> 
> OH! ALSO! i have a HC where Alya is like SUUUPER RICH and doesn't flaunt it because, while her parent's are successful RICH people, she is not one to use her MONEY and POWER like Chloe.
> 
> (what is it with me and italicizing the word warm???? am i the only on noticing this??????)


	9. And The Hits Keep Coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> three Akumas pop up, leading to more than three fights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugggh, this chapter killed me. this is prolly going to be the longest chapter, but what do i know. most of what's written wasn't planned, but this is what came out. hopefully this is good because i didn't really like the last Akuma fight :(

Chat woke up first, Marinette shivering slightly in his arms. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms to warm her, waking her up in the process.

"Good morning, Princess." he greeted, his voice husky from sleep. Marinette just grumbled, digging her face into his chest, refusing to be awake.

"No morning," she muttered into his skin. "Sleep." she sighed, lazily kissing him when she pronounced the 'p'.

"It's not that I don't enjoy this, Marinette, because I do, but I've been missing for the whole night and I don't think my father is _that_ oblivious when it comes to me." he told her, sitting them up, but not moving any further than that.

Marinette sighed again, her hands stretching up above her head as she yawned. "Morning _mon mimi_ ," she said, a lazy smile on her face, looking sated.

Chat nuzzled her cheek. "I love you," he said, holding his breath, not sure if this was something that should be said in the light of day.

Marinette just scratched behind his cat ears, humming. "I love you, too." He could hear her smile as she said the words, could hear just how true they were, which made him seek out her lips to press a chaste kiss to them.

Marinette pulled back from him, nose scrunched up in disgust. "Ugh, my breath must smell terrible," she said, moving off of his lap to walk the short distance to where she tossed her shirt, not even bothering with her bra as she pulled it over her head.

Chat shrugged his suit back on, zipping it up and making a mental note to give Plagg several plates of camembert. "That's a lovely sight. If only I could draw." he sighed lovingly, walking over to where Marinette was fussing with her hair to press a soft kiss to her neck.

"Down, kitty. I have to get ready for school, now." Marinette said, poking him in the chest as she went to her bathroom, which was just a closet with a sink and mirror shoved into it.

"I have to get ready as well," Chat sighed. He didn't want to leave the warmth that Marinette just seemed to create. Marinette gave him a knowing look, a smile on her face as she turned to face him fully.

"Come back tonight," she told him, her eyes holding the question she was too afraid to ask. 

Chat just smiled at her, bowing dramatically low as he answered, "Why, of course, Princess. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

When he left, Marinette heard Tikki giggle from her bed. The Kwami floated her way over to the blushing girl, her smile taking up half her face.

"Did you get much sleep?" Tikki teased her, making Marinette blush harder.

"Sh-shut up!" Marinette was _so not_ talking about this with Tikki. She was just going to go shower and get ready for school. When she went to her dresser she picked out something comfy, something that was baggy enough to hide the marks Chat left on her the night before.

She smiled to herself as she thought about last night, her face getting even warmer as she opened her door to get in the shower. Marinette could tell that Chat hadn't been expecting her to do what she did, but when he had told her he missed her, well, it made her realise just how lucky she was. It made her realise just how glad she was he had kissed her all those weeks ago in that alley.  
\--  
Adrien was floating in the clouds while the Gorilla drove him to school. Sure he was lightheaded from the little sleep he had gotten the night before, but mostly he felt like he was in a dream. Plagg had lectured him about his activities when they had gotten home, but that just brought the _activities_ to the forefront of his mind to relive over and over again.

"Marinette," he sighed her name like he had been doing since he had gotten closer to the school.

Plagg flew out of his shirt pocket and straight to the window. "Pipe down, loverboy, I hear something!" His ears were moving every which direction, the look of concentration odd on the usually blaisé Kwami.

"She's calling your name," Plagg said quietly, almost as if he didn't believe what he was saying.

"What?" Adrien asked, moving towards the window himself.

"Marinette is calling for Chat!" Plagg yelled, flying towards his Miraculous.

"What? Why?" But his questions were answered when the car suddenly veered right and he was thrown into the plush leather seats.

When he got up, he was Chat Noir and he could hear the screams for himself. The faint echo of a woman screaming, _"Don't hurt my baby!"_

He practically ripped the limo door off its hinges, stopping as soon as he saw what was waiting for him. He could tell he was close to the school, but not much more than that seeing as how the whole street was flooded with some type of purple fog. He spread his hearing out as far as it could go and heard the faint traces of people crying out in pain. _"STOP! PLEASE! I'll go with you, just stop hurting them!"_ That was Marinette's voice!

Chat stooped to where all four of his limbs were on the ground and took off in what he hoped was the correct direction. The fog seemed to condense and expand as if it were breathing and it made it hard for him to accurately judge where the sound was coming from.

He took out his baton, thinking that maybe he could see something from above, but really, his mind and heart was racing. Marinette had sounded so broken, it made his lungs seize and his ribs contract. He needed to find her quick before this Akuma could take her away to Papillion.

When he reached a certain height, it was like the fog didn't exist, he could see everything below him, and he knew exactly where to head, tilting slightly on the end of his baton to head in the direction of where Marinette and her parent's were. From what he could see, blood was coming out from the corner of their mouths, but he couldn't tell if Marinette was hurt because she had her back to him. He could see the Akuma, though, and every cat instinct inside of him was yelling at him to **RUN!**

She was composed of different gasses, all of them swirling and separating along her body. It was like several multi-coloured thunderstorms fighting for space withing one person's body, and it did _not_ look comfortable. Her feet dissolved to spread out to form the fog around them. Her hair spreading to cover the Dupain-Cheng's, which made Chat realise that she was hurting them.

He quickly hopped onto the ground, his vision faltering as he adjusted to the sudden increase in fog. "Are you all right, Marinette?" he called out, hoping the answer was yes.

He heard a sniffle, and then a low growl, and then Marinette was lunging at the Akuma, her eyes splotchy from her tears and her jaw clenched, teeth showing in a terrifying snarl. Chat could only watch as she pounced on the Akuma, fire in her eyes and fists clenched, one held out to connect with the Akuma's face in a spectacular right hook.

When Marinette's fist met with the Akuma's face, though, it was as if she popped some invisible bubble. The Akuma shrieked, the thunderstorms going wild, no longer being contained. Chat felt himself get hit in the chest, the propulsion knocking him into a building across the street. As he got up, he couldn't see Marinette, the purple fog having gotten so thick that he couldn't even see his own hand an inch from his face.

He coughed, his lungs were _not_ happy about being sucker punched for the second time in a matter of minutes. He heard an echo of laughter surrounding him, bouncing off the thick fog so he couldn't pinpoint the source.

"Here kitty kitty," the Akuma taunted, her face appearing in the fog, her smirk turning into an evil grin when he saw what she put on display for him. Marinette was floating several feet above his head in a bubble of shifting orange fog, her face contorting in pain. He could see blood, that was _all_ he saw as he looked up at her.

Chat's heart seized, he wanted to cry, he wanted to yell, he wanted to hurt the Akuma. How many times would she get hurt because he couldn't protect her?

"What's the matter, kitty? Got your own tongue?" Chat was pulled back from his shock by the Akuma's next taunt. He readied his baton, hoping Ladybug was not far behind him. He didn't think he could control himself enough to not grievously hurt the person being controlled. He didn't know if he could stop himself, and he didn't think he wanted to, which scared him.

Chat Noir made a move to lunge at the Akuma with his baton, but changed the direction at the last second to hit the floating mass above him, which made the fog fall upon him, Marinette's unconscious body following in its wake. When the fog touched the bare skin on his face, he hissed. It was coarse like sandpaper, immediately taking, at least, two layers of skin off. He held her in his arms, clutching her tightly to his chest as he cried.

He couldn't let her get hurt anymore, he resolved, tightening his hold before setting her down by her parents, who were still unconscious, leaning up against their bakery door. His teeth were clenched, his breath whistling a little as he breathed through them. He was beyond mad, beyond furious. He wanted revenge, payback, whatever it was called that involved hurting the enemy before him. He saw red again, but this time, it wasn't because the person he loved was bleeding. Hopefully, it was because that's how the person who hurt her was going to be soon enough.

The Akuma danced around his attacks, laughing as he missed or when his baton went straight through her. His chest was heaving, his limbs were getting heavier each time he went to strike, but still he continued. He wasn't going to give up, he _would_ hurt her.

"Thinking of giving up, kitty?" the Akuma asked, her voice holding cruel mirth that never seemed to fade.

"How about you give up!" He yelled right back, voice hoarse from his heavy breathing.

"Ha! Las Essence never gives up, it never gives in, and it will get you in the end!" She shouted, shooting her arm at him, but he wasn't going to deflect it in time, his arms feeling like dead weight.

"Chat!" He heard her call as she jumped in front of him, her yo-yo spinning in front if her as a shield. Ladybug looked back at him for a brief second, a grimace on her face as she saw just how tired he was.

"Mind if I cut in?" she asked, standing up to twirl her yo-yo overhead, causing more gas to disperse. 

When a good chunk of the street was cleared away, Chat realised just how far Las Essence pushed him from Marinette. He panicked for a second before focusing up on the fight before him. He still had to land a hit.

"Chat! You see where the Akuma could be hiding?" Ladybug asked him, which made the hair on the back of his neck stand up with anger.

"Oh geez, if only I had thought to look for it _sooner_ ," he said bitterly, his face twisting into a snarl of his own. He didn't care if it was harsh, he wanted her to know that he was angry. 

" _Chaton_ ," she said, her tone warning him that this was not the time. He just huffed, spinning his baton in front of him as Las Essence tried to go for another attack. _I would've thought to twirl my baton sooner or later_ , he thinks harshly as he moves to cover Ladybugs back. She had just called forth her Lucky Charm, which meant she would be too preoccupied with looking for a way to use the random object dropped to pay attention to her immediate surroundings.

"Chat! Her anklet! On the count of three!" Ladybug yelled back at him, not elaborating as she attached the wind whistle to her yo-yo.

 

Ladybug stood in the center of the small eye of swirling gas, squaring her shoulders and feet before twirling her yo-yo up in the air. The whistle caused a high pitched whine which made Chat's ears twitch, but the Akuma, she was writhing in pain. She practically flew out of the cloud of gas, crawling her way across the clearing, Chat quickly following her, kneeling down to scratch at her anklet. And if he scratched her as he broke the Akuma possessed item, well, it's not like Ladybug's Miraculous Light couldn't fix the small scrape.

Ladybug caught the fleeing Akuma easily enough, but before she released it, she turned to Chat. "Are you okay?" She asked, her eyes holding accusations that he didn't think _she_ of all people should be holding him accountable for.

"No," he answered honestly. " _Where were you, today?_ " He asked, his anger coming back now that the battle was over.

Ladybug took a step backwards at the force of his words. "What do you mean? I was on time." She defended herself, her arms itching to cross in front of her to give some type of barrier against his anger.

"No, you weren't! You were _late_ ," he flung at her, "You've _been_ late!"

Ladybug threw her hands up. "Well, sor- _ry_ for having a life outside of the suit!" She didn't have time for this, the fog was going to fade and he'd see that Marinette wasn't where he placed her.

"Well, you _should_ be! Because of you being late Marinette got hurt!" He shouted, his arm pointing wildly behind him, in the vague direction of where the bakery was.

Ladybug made a strangled noise. "Don't you _dare_ put that on me!" She poked herself in the chest before flinging it out at him. "What about _you_?" She accused, before wincing. It wasn't his fault that the Akumas were targeting her.

Expecting another shout from him, Ladybug set her shoulders but saw her partners face crumple as he fell to his knees. "I'm sorry," he said, voice cracking as he brought his hands up to his face. "It _is_ my fault. It's _all_ my fault." Never had he looked so small to her than in this moment. Never had he looked so broken.

Ladybug went over and kneeled in front of him, placing a hand on his shaking shoulder. "Chat," she said softly, ignoring the beeping of her Miraculous. "Chat, what are you talking about? Of _course_ this isn't your fault. Who _knows_ why Papillion is targeting Marinette, but I _swear_ it isn't your fault." She hadn't the time for this. _Both_ sides of her were running out of time.

Chat started knocking his knuckles on his forehead as he cried, "It is. It's _my fault_." Ladybug struggled to stop his hands, Chat putting up a fight, needing something to distract him from the pain of his heart. He wanted the Earth to swallow him up, wanted to disappear, wanted to go back in time so that he never hurt Marinette in the first place. Of /course/ this was his fault. He was the one who showed just how much he cared for her in front of Papillion.

"What makes you think that, _mon m- Chaton_?" Ladybug almost slipped, almost called him by Marinette's nickname. Her earrings beeped again. _Four more minutes left._

"He told me. He said I was the reason they were targeting her." Chat leaned his head against Ladybug's shoulder, his tears making a faint sound as they hit her suit.

"I'm the reason she keeps getting hurt! I should just-"

"Don't!" Ladybug yelled, clutching him tighter to her. "Don't you _dare_ finish that sentence. Don't you dare finish that _thought!_ "

"But it's _true!_ " Chat sobbed. "He knows I love her! He won't stop targeting her!" Her earring beeped. _Three minutes_.

"Then that's on _him_ , Chat. _Not_ on you." Ladybug said as she pulled away from him. She needed to leave. She needed to tell him it's not his fault. Her earrings beeped again. This seemed to finally register to Chat. He sniffled before smiling lightly at her. It didn't reach his eyes, but she didn't have time for it.

"Go. I'm okay now." She knew he was lying, but she _needed to leave_. Ladybug hugged him tightly before releasing the white papillion, swinging away into the fading fog.

 

When Chat came upon the bakery, he saw that all three Dupain-Cheng's were awake, hugging and crying. Sabine and Tom looked healed, but Marinette's skin was still raw looking- as if she had a slight sunburn all over her body. Her sobs reached his ears as she clung to her parents.

"I'm so sorry!" She cried, voice muffled by her father's chest. Her parents just soothed her, Sabine stroking her hair, kissing the top of her head, Tom humming a slight tune. Chat turned to go away when Tom looked up to meet his eyes. They nodded at each other before Chat leapt up on his baton, leaning slightly to fall towards a nearby rooftop. His throat forming a lump as his thoughts stayed on the scene he just saw.  
\--  
Ladybug was at his window. Adrien had just flopped facedown on his bed when he heard a soft tap coming from his left. Marinette didn't come to school today- not that he could blame her- but when Nino, Alya and he went to her house, the bakery was closed. They hadn't answered any of the calls the three of them made, so they left the class 'Get Well Soon' cards in the crevice of the door.

Now, Ladybug shows up and he doesn't think he has it in him to pretend to be fine. He doesn't think he can pretend to be oblivious Adrien Agreste. He felt too much like heartbroken Chat Noir.

Ladybug didn't seem to get that he was ignoring her, though, because he felt the draft of the cool night air hit his arm, he heard her as she softly padded over to where he laid. "Are you okay, Adrien?" she asked just as softly as her footfalls.

"No," he replied after a beat. "I'm not." The words were acidic in his mouth as if his stomach were upheaving. Maybe it was his heart, trying to get rid of the _guilt_ and _shame_ he was forcing himself to swallow.

Adrien felt his bed dip underneath him, turning his head so he didn't have to face her. "My friend was attacked today and I couldn't do anything to help." He told her, the lie somehow becoming the truth as he spoke. It still tasted of ash, even as he forced himself to contain his rage. 

"I know," she said, speaking words that sounded familiar. Speaking words that made his heart lurch and ache as it rotted inside him. He could no longer remember yesterday night without thinking of how he put Marinette in danger. And for what? He wasn't important enough, he wasn't worth the pain he had put her through.

His throat closed around his cry of despair, barely allowing room for him to breathe. He may be the son of millionaire Gabriel Agreste, but now he just felt worthless. Something in his chest exploded as he thought this, raining ash and pain upon the corpse that was once his heart. He was grateful for the sting of it. 

"No, you really don't." He was, once again, arguing with her, with his partner. How could he explain to her how _useless_ he felt as Chat Noir? How could he tell her that he had _never_ felt useless as Chat Noir before? That only _Adrien_ had ever felt useless? That only _Adrien_ \- that only _he_ was the screwup? Adrien was the only one who had ever made mistakes, but now, apparently, he so _fucking inept_ that it bled over to his other self, and he hated himself for it. Loathing was only a word that didn't even _begin_ to describe his feelings.

"Okay," she said coolly, shifting her weight so she sat more comfortably on his bed. "I don't, not really, but I do know that you're hurting. Probably blaming yourself even though it's pointless to." Adrien felt her fingers sit in his hair, not moving them, just allowing them to add a light pressure that actually felt rather pleasant. He didn't deserve the feeling.

He wanted to ask her how it was pointless if he _was_ actually to blame, but she spoke before he could. "It's pointless because Papillion was, ultimately, the one who made the call to target her. Despite what Chat," her voice breaks on his name, "thinks this is about, Papillion is the one in charge of the attacks. Point your finger in his direction or don't point it at all." Adrien heard her sniffle and he realised that she must be worried about him, worried for Chat. There he goes, messing up yet again.

"Why is this Papillion after Marinette?" he asked, wanting to hear her say it. To see if she would, even after all her placating, blame Chat Noir for putting a civilian in harms way. Ladybugs' fingers tensed in his hair before slowly easing back to their relaxed state. Adrien heard her cuss softly to herself, shifting slightly.

"He- Well, you see- I-," she starts, sighing deeply, trying to gather her thoughts. "Chat Noir has feelings for her, so Papillion is using this information against us." Adrien can tell she doesn't want to say this, is hesitant to speak about the topic.

"If he's putting her in danger, then he should just leave her alone." He voiced the thoughts that had been nagging at him since he left Marinette to cry in her parents' arms. "He should break up with her."

"No, that won't solve anything," Ladybug said fiercely, clenching her fingers. "There's nothing to be done about Papillion going after Marinette now. The only thing we can do is stop the attacks at the source."

Adrien thought about this. It was true that breaking up might not solve Papillion going after Marinette, but he still felt like he should give it a try. After all that he has seen, he couldn't help but hold out some small hope that it would work.

"Yeah, but," he begins, finally sitting up to face Ladybug. "Chat Noir is endangering her life. She should hate him for hurting her and her family." His words struck him. It had never occurred to him until this moment that Marinette, his sweet Marinette, might actually _hate him_.

Ladybug smiled softly. "She doesn't, though. I don't think she could ever hate him." Her voice held an edge to it that he couldn't recognize.

Adrien's eyes widened as he realised she was crying. His hands floundered as he panicked about what to do. Ladybug lets a little bubble of laughter go as she saw him twitch.

"I'm sorry," she told him, running her hands under her eyes to stop the tears. "I just- I'm worried about him, you know?" Adrien handed her some tissues, having gotten up to grab the box of them from his desk.

"He just seemed so _happy_. There was a bounce to his step, well, even _more_ of a bounce. He was smiling _actual genuine_ smiles, too. I just, what if he's hurting and I can't help him through the pain?" Her voice was watery as she spoke, speaking not only through her tears, but also the tissue.

"Chat's probably thinking the same things you are and I'm not there to help him! I just- It's so much more than that, too. I was- I _caused_ him to be in pain." Ladybug cried out, letting her head drop into her hands.

"I highly doubt that," Adrien told her, hands hovering over her shoulders, not sure if she would like the touch. He's not sure it would've been comforting either. He doesn't realise right away that his anger for her being late is gone when he tells her this.

"No, it's true. I haven't been getting to the attacks on time and he's been angry. Honestly, I feel like I deserve it! I mean, M-Marinette and her parents were hurt today and Chat had to handle the Akuma alone for longer than I thought. He's never yelled at me before, but I deserved his anger. I deserve his wrath for what's happened." She says that last part quietly, eyes wide as if she had just come to that conclusion.

Adrien is quiet for a minute, trying to hold back the sudden need to laugh. He can't contain it for long, though, and it rushes through him, frantic and hysterical, and like a burst of hot air, it lifts him for a moment. And then, as soon as it came, it leaves him, no longer weightless, no longer able to express the irony of the situation.

Because it _is_ ironic. "I'm sorry," he tells her, his voice clinging to the last trace of laughter. "It's just, I was angry at you as well. When I had heard about the fight from my friend, Alya, watching what little of the fight she recorded, I was mad that Ladybug hadn't shown up sooner. I wanted to- Well, I guess yell at you like Chat Noir did." He sighs, feeling as if his chest was caving in like a used up mine, empty, barren, devoid of emotion.

"And yet, when you said that you deserved his anger, his wrath, I just- I wanted to tell you how _wrong_ that was. That you had tried your best and that he shouldn't take his anger out on you. So I go from condemning you to trying to protect you."

Ladybug lets out a small nose laugh, a weak smile on her face as her eyes remain closed off to him. Adrien was so used to seeing those eyes be expressive, flitting from one emotion to the next, but now they had lost their sheen, lost their luster.

Neither of them spoke for a long while after that, just sitting there on Adrien's bed. He was now propped up on his headboard, face turned towards the Parisian Hero. Ladybug had moved from her initial spot, her back facing the view of the night sky as she curled up into a tight ball, almost reminiscent of the first time they had met in the garden's; She looked even more lost now than she had previously.

Adrien was drifting, emotionally spent, when Ladybug shot up, startling him. "I- I'm sorry. I have to go." She moved towards the still open window. _"I shouldn't have come,"_ she whispered as she looked back at him, fear in her eyes before she launched out of the window and into the night.

That was the last time Adrien saw her in his civilian form.  
\--  
Marinette came to school the next day, her skin tinged a light pink. It still felt raw to her, but it was a whole lot better than yesterday. She walks carefully, aware of every movement she made, every brush of her shirt, every time she bent her knees to take a step. It felt like someone pricked her skin every time her foot hit the ground. Needless to say, she was not in the mood for anything, _especially_ Chloè, who was making her way towards where Marinette was waiting for Alya.

"Oh look, Sabrina, a lobster got loose from my father's hotel," Chloè sneered, a small container in her hand. She turned to talk to Sabrina, her arm coming around to smack Marinette's shoulder, which made Chloè stop mid-yell. Marinette took in a deep breath to stop from spewing curses.

"Oh, gross! Not only does it now have Akmuka germs, but now it's got Marinette on it!" Chloè screamed before shoving the container in Marinette's hands. "Here! It wasn't the right scent anyway." the blonde sniffed, turning on her heel as Sabrina nodded her head at Marinette before following her friend.

Marinette looked down at what Chloè 'gave' her, seeing that it was some kind of skin cream. She opened the lid a took a hesitant sniff, wondering what kind of overpowering scent it would give off, but was pleasantly surprised when a soft lemon smell wafted out of the container. She looked over to where Chloè was standing at the top of the stairs, her eyes going soft for a moment before hardening into the glacier glare she was used to.

Marinette leaned down to sniff it again, a small smile playing on her face. "What's that?" Alya called from over her shoulder, her eyes zeroing in on the skin cream.

"Look what I got today," Marinette said as she held out the container. "It's for my skin and it smells like lemons." Alya leaned in to sniff, 'hmm'-ing as she rocked back on her heels.

"So, are you going to put it on?" the blogger asked as they went up the stairs. She took the skin cream away from Marinette, sniffing it again before testing some on her skin.

"Yeah, but I could use your help." She gestured to all of her body, which made Alya sigh.

"Alright girlie, but you are making me a _lot_ of snickerdoodles to compensate." Marinette laughed but conceded to her friends demands.

"I'll make you however many you want, promise."

 

At lunch, Marinette got a call from her mother asking her to come help out at the bakery. It was getting a lot of attention due to the Akuma attack yesterday and they were _packed_. So Marinette made deliveries while her parent's worked both the counter and the kitchen.

It was on the last delivery before she had to go back to school that the Earth shook. Marinette met the ground as a loud roar pierced the air. She felt her lungs shrivel, her sight darkened around the edges as she scrambled for cover. Around her buildings crumbled, people cried and the all too familiar taste of gritty cement assaulted her. She was back to holding up that wall, screaming in pain as it laughed at her.

Tikki slapped her as hard as she could, which got Marinette's eyes to clear. "Marinette! We have work to do!" the Kwami yelled as she flitted nervously side to side.

Marinette shook her head before standing up and saying hoarsely, "Tikki, _transformer moi_."

It was like she was fighting with thick goggles on while underwater. Every move she made felt slow and over exaggerated. The only thing she could hear clearly was her heartbeat, which was a constant drumming, beating to the sound of her panic. Ladybug was desperate to get this fight over with, desperate to end the noise.

Every stomp of Le Grondement's foot sent her back to being trapped in that nightmare. Every taunt out of his mouth were the words being thrown at her by that damned wall. It was exhausting, it was too much, it was over.

Ladybug was standing over the victim, chest heaving as the water slowly ebbed away to hear the apologies coming from the kneeling man. She blinked away the goggles to see Chat Noir drop before her, eyes wild with emotions she was too exhausted to decipher.

"My lady?" He asked hesitantly, taking a small step towards her. This broke Ladybug out of the fog that had come over her. She stepped back quickly, each one feeling like the last before she would fall to the ground before her back hit the nearby building. Her earrings sent out a warning that made her hands go to her Miraculous. She had two minutes left.

"I'm- I'm fine Chat," she told him trying to shake the excess adrenaline that came with her panic.

"Where's Marinette?" He asked as he looked around.

"What?" She asked automatically before regaining enough of her thoughts to remember where exactly she was. "N-No. She wasn't the target. This was-"

"Don't lie to me!" He interrupted, walking over to where she was leaning against the side of the building. _That's funny,_ she thought. _Now a_ walls _the one who's holding me up._

"She's not here, Chat. She never was. Why are you so adamant about that?" She meant for it to sound harsh, but it came out as a weary sigh. _One minute left_.

"Because she's being targeted! And it's _my_ fault!" Chat told her, his eyes showing her just how desperate he was.

"I've told you before, you silly cat, it's not your fault." Ladybug felt like her legs were going to melt. She had no energy left within her to move and she didn't have any more time left.

"It is!" Chat yelled harshly, biting his lip to prevent himself from tearing up.

"Why do you blame yourself so much? It's not like she does." Ladybug was seriously thinking about taking a nap. Perhaps she could even skip the rest of school. Claim she was still injured from yesterday.

"Because I feel guilty. _I'm_ the one who showed how much she meant to me in the first place."

Ladybug could _feel_ Tikki urging her to move, to leave so the Kwami could eat some cookies and rest. "And it was _Papillion_ who ultimately decided to take advantage of that." Ladybug forced herself to move away from the wall.

"Now, I'm tired and about to loose my spots. We'll talk about this tomorrow, okay?" She asked, but didn't wait for an answer before she tossed a weak throw of her yo-yo at the top of a faraway building and then promptly zipped away.  
\--  
Adrien had heard Alya and Nino telling him to leave before he heard the screams and felt the ground shake. As he arrived as Chat, he could tell it was already over, Ladybug had fought on her own and won, the swarm of ladybugs that swept past him was proof enough.

He was shocked to find himself relieved at this. All he _really_ wanted to do was find Marinette and make sure she was safe, but his own eyes and Ladybug told him she was nowhere to be found. And when Ladybug left, he was stuck there with the still kneeling victim, who was crying and repeating apologies over and over again. Chat felt his anger spike once more. Le Papillion was taking this too far.

He squatted down next to the crying man and laid a hand on his back. "Do you remember anything?" he asked.

"He wanted- I had to- It hurt so much!" the guy sobbed, rocking slightly as he grabbed his feet. Chat Noir wanted to help, but he didn't think anything he could say would help this guy.

"It's okay, sir. It's over now. Do you want me to drop you off somewhere?" Chat slowly helped the man up, catching him when he stumbled.

"I'm sorry," he said again for the nth time. 

"It's okay. No one got hurt. You're going to be fine." Chat walked the man to a nearby bench. He was getting worried. The victims Papillion was controlling were remembering more and more of what happened while they were Akumatized.

"I just saw red and everything was hazy and there was a voice telling me to capture this little girl. I didn't want to, I tried to stop. I- I have two little girls of my own and I couldn't imagine hurting someone else's baby girl. But- the man, he- he got so angry that I felt it. I felt his anger and all I wanted to do was stomp on everything that was near." He started sobbing again, putting his head in his hands and leaning his elbows on his knees.

Chat Noir soothed the man as best he could, not minding that he was missing class. "You didn't hurt her. She's okay, she wasn't even around."

"No, no. She was. I- I saw her before Ladybug showed up. I just lost her in the chaos." The man looked up, his head swiveling wildly to see if he could spot her.

When Chat heard this he felt his bones grow cold. "Are- are you sure?" he asked. The man nodded. Chat rocketed out of his seat, walking a few paces away.

"I gotta go find her. Are you going to be okay on your own?" Chat asked, not stopping to find out the answer. He looked around the first couple of blocks, but he saw no signs of her. He was starting to panic, he could feel it bubbling up in his throat, choking him, restricting his lungs.

He turned back into Adrien so he could contact Alya to see if Marinette was at school.

**From Alya C.:**  
Sorry A, she's not here :(

**To Alya C.:**  
Do you have anywhere she could be?

**From Alya C.:**  
I would think at home. She probs wasn't feeling well D':

**From Alya C.:**  
Just got confro. she went back home during Akuma attack  &is stYing there !!

**To Alya C.:**  
Thanks! I'll swing by! :)

He gave Plagg some of his emergency cheese and changed back into Chat Noir. He vaulted his way over to Marinette's place watching the streets below just in case he saw her. He landed on her terrace, making sure he wasn't spotted before he slipped inside.

He literally ran into her. She was coming up the stairs into her room when he was trying to go down and she headbutted him in the stomach.

"Chat!" she whispered loudly. "What are you doing here?" Marinette asked as she rubbed her head, stepping fully into her room. She shut the door with her foot, walking over to her desk chair.

"I was coming to see you. There was another Akuma attack today. Plus, I didn't visit you last night." Chat sat up from his spot on the floor, scooting to face her direction, but not moving further towards her. He felt bad about not visiting, but he didn't want to see her look at him with judgement in her eyes. He didn't want her to be yet another person who left him.

Marinette huffed, crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks. "Oh, you didn't come over last night? I hadn't noticed," she said sarcastically, side-eyeing him.

Chat sank further into himself as she threw those words at him. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't think you wanted to see me after I failed to protect you." He heard her huff again before he saw a dark shape move towards him, engulfing him in a hug.

"Why would I blame _you_ for what happened? That Papillion guy is the one to blame. He's clearly using our relationship to get to you." She hugged him tightly, yanking his upper body into her lap. His head rested on her shoulder and he could feel her fingers threading through his hair.

"You don't hate me?" he asked softly, he couldn't take his eyes from the smooth expanse of her neck. The night they spent together felt like it had happened months ago.

"Of course not _mon mimi_. I could _never_ hate you." She soothed, her words washing away most of the guilt that had built up in his heart. Some of it stayed behind, refusing to leave, clinging stubbornly to the sides. Marinette says that now, but just wait until he slips up again. There could only be so much people forgave him for, like his father and his mother.

 

Chat and Marinette stayed like that until late into the night. He left reluctantly, knowing what was waiting for him once he arrived home. Nathalie would scold him for skipping out on school, his father would hear of this and berate him for leaving when _Adrien_ had been the one to beg to go in the first place, dropping subtle threats about taking him out of public school.

So he kissed her quickly, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, hoping to make it home before his father (or most likely Nathalie) could see that he hadn't gone to the school like normal. Chat was so busy focusing on getting home that he didn't see the giant flower forming in the middle of the city.  
\--  
Marinette woke to a slight headache and a scream in her throat. She had dreamed about Le Bombardier, only Le Goudron had appeared as well, jumping from person to person, leaving behind red puddles as if he were splashing about in the rain. She was relieved La Destructrice hadn't made a guest appearance.

Shaking off her nightmare, she got ready for school, pausing as she made her way down the attic steps. She frowned as she heard nothing but silence, smelt nothing cooking in the air. It was well past opening time for the bakery, her father should be cooking up a storm of confections that would waft their smells into the air. Yet, there was nothing. Not even sounds of clanking pots and pans.

Marinette slowly walked down the steps leading into the bakery only to see it empty. There was a fine layer of dust coating the counter. She ran her finger through it to see that it was more than just a couple days worth of non-cleaning buildup. This was thicker as if the place had been shut down for years. This didn't make sense.

Marinette ran back up to the first floor, slamming the front door open, hoping to draw her parents out with the noise, but they didn't show. She flung every door she ran into open, searching frantically, but everywhere she looked it was the same. Empty. Barren. Stale air and even staler dust.

She was officially Freaked Out. Marinette reached into her purse to call Alya, only to pause as she undid the clasp. She was forgetting something, something important, something that made tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She sniffled as she thought about it, seeing a quick flash of red before some _thing_ slammed a door shut. A loud _"NO!"_ rang through her ears, knocking her off balance.

Marinette could feel herself getting worked up, so she ran and found herself out on the street, which was devoid of life as well. There weren't even cars parked on the sides, and the buildings looked slightly different than she remembered, but she couldn't put her finger on why that made the hairs on the back of her neck stick up.

She was feeling paranoid again, which did not bode well for her. Feeling like a trapped animal was _not_ conducive to critical thinking. As she walked her steps made echoes on the pavement, the sound bouncing off the buildings and distorting into visible waves.

"I'm dreaming," she said aloud to herself, only to see the words crawl their way out of her mouth as if she were a magician with a string of hankies. They settled in the air for a moment before dissolving completely. She didn't like physically feeling her words form. It tore at her throat, pain digging its claws inside her lungs.

She stayed silent after that, walking around until she was suddenly in front of the Pyramide du Louvre. To her right was the Seine, but she continued in her circle until her eyes fell upon a giant stalk in the middle of the Jardin des Tuileries. The ground sped up until she was standing at the base of it, looking up to see the faint imprint of petals. It was a giant flower.

_An Akuma_ , she thought. _Now it all makes sense._ Marinette put her hand out, stopping as her palm was an inch from the stem. She could hear the faint screams of several thousand people, all calling for help. Marinette wanted to help but knew she couldn't do anything. Again, a flash of red danced through her mind, this time accompanied by a hint of purple before a slamming sound and another shout rang out.

Dizzy and confused, Marinette felt herself fall through the floor and land on the cushioned bench inside the Louvre. She looked over to see frames hanging on the walls, the canvases they held blank. She could taste the stale air, knowing there was no life to be had inside these walls.

Marinette got up, looking for an exit, her steps strangely mute. She had grown used to the one noise that permeated the damp silence, and now that it was gone she found she missed it.

"Psst, Marinette!" The words circled around her head, spinning faster and faster until they dissolved. If not for the obvious display of them being spoken, Marinette would've thought she was hearing things.

Looking around, she saw a mop of shaggy blonde hair peeking out from a corner across the room. She felt her heart double pump, a smile coming to her face. "Chat?" she asked, racing down the hall only to see the hair vanish from sight. She picked it up again at the next corner, and so on until she wasn't even sure where she was anymore. It _definitely_ wasn't the Louvre, and it _definitely_ wasn't a place she had ever seen before.

It was one long hallway after another, red suede coating the walls. Adorned with shiny golden light fixtures that were dimly lit, Marinette thought it was a creepy place to be. Only the thought of Chat kept her moving forward. The place was like a maze, though, turn after turn after turn, it was never ending.

At least, she thought so, until she came to a door. It was lavender, the knob a rusted misshapen hunk of metal. Marinette wasn't even sure it would turn, but her hand reached for it against her will anyway. It was hot to the touch, but the door slowly opened, it having been heavier than it looked.

It opened into a dark room, but Marinette heard the flutterings of wings. A soft mechanical click and then a whirl, and suddenly she saw a couple dozen white butterflies hovering in the small round room. A dark figure was standing in the middle, illuminated by the circular window.

"Chat?" she whispered softly, the butterflies moving like a slow wave as her words hit them.

The figure turned, catching enough light for her to see it wasn't Chat Noir, but Adrien Agreste. He had a small smile on his face and a hand outstretched for her to take. "Hello, Marinette," he said, but his voice was wrong. It was high pitched and sounded as familiar to her as it did strange.

She walked towards him, the butterflies parting briefly for her, before taking his hand. As soon as she did she was transported into a vast space of nothing but white and the two of them. "A-Adrien? What's going on?" she was getting scared.

"Marinette! Thank goodness! I was _so_ worried!" 'Adrien' cried out, jumping at her to envelope her in a hug. As he pulled back his eyes flashed purple and suddenly Marinette understood everything.

"Ti- Adrien!" Marinette stumbled, changing the name she was going to say at the glare she got from 'Adrien'. "What's going on?" she repeated, still as confused as she was before her moment of clarity.

"I don't know," he said, but the physical words that came out of his mouth were different. 'An Akuma attack is under way. I don't know the specifics, but I am certain that she can monitor everything that is happening in these dream-like states'.

Marinette felt the blood drain from her face. She knew she was probably dreaming and that it was at the hands of an Akuma, but if even _Tikki_ didn't know how to handle this, what chance did they have at stopping her?

"Well, I guess that's alright," she said, focusing on the words 'How do we get out of here?' and they were the ones to manifest physically, clawing their way out of her throat. She was going to feel every bit of this in the morning. In the evening? What time was it anyway?

'There are layers to these dreams, you just have to focus on what's _real_ '. That didn't make sense.

'What? That doesn't even make sense Ti-Adrien!'. 'Adrien' rolled his eyes.

'Just focus! Concentrate!'. _On what?_ , Marinette wanted to ask, but then she felt a pull, a tug on her heart and then she was back in her room. Only, this time, there was a knock on her door. 'Adrien' held her back from answering, tapping on his ear.

Marinette leaned slightly to the side to hear a faint moaning sound. The knock on her door suddenly grew into angry pounding, her trap door bowing inward at the force.

"Focus, Marinette!" 'Adrien' yelled at her, taking a hand and covering her eyes. "Focus."

Marinette took a deep breath trying to find some link to ground her to the real world. It was a faint flitter, at first, the echo of laughter and light. It started out blurry before coming into sharp focus. She was shrunk to the age of nine, her feet were dangling off the side of the counter and she was covered head to toe in flour. Her father was chasing her mother around the first-floor kitchen, his hands out making mock monster claws.

_"I'm going to get you!" He shouted, purposely failing to capture mommy, who was the only one not covered in the white powder._

_"Get her, daddy!" Marinette shouted, clapping her hands to make little puffs of flour. Her mommy turned to face her as she exaggerated being hurt._

_"Traitor!" she called out, pointing her finger at Marinette who just giggled and stuck her tongue out._

The scene blurred as it forwarded through more chasing.

_"Okay my little flour monsters, it's time for a bath!" mommy shouted, clapping her hands in front of her. Daddy pouted, lowering Marinette from his shoulders._

_"Yes, mama," he said with a pout, his lower lip jutting out as he looked up at her. Marinette quickly adopted her daddy's look._

_"No! Not the puppy eyes!" mommy faked being hit in the heart, slowly falling backwards as she made groaning sounds. Marinette giggled as the timer went off._

_"Cookies!" she shouted, her eyes lighting up with glee. She beat daddy to the oven, shoving the comically large oven mitt on her hand stating loudly, "No, I want to do it!"_

_Daddy conceded, stepping back to get out of her way. Marinette took a deep breath before opening the oven door. The heat hit her face like a slap, but it didn't stop her. She was a fierce warrior battling the dragon for the cookies he stole from her kingdom! She grabbed the shield they were glued to, but it was heavier than she thought. Marinette bit her lip as she tried to raise the shield, but it seemed to think her unworthy!_

_Daddy came up behind her, slipping his arm under hers, helping her guide the shield from the dragon's reach and out of the heated cave. They had victory! Marinette giggled as the shield became a cookie sheet, her daddy helping her walk it to where the cooling racks were waiting._

_"Alright, you two. No more being Flour Monsters. I need my husband and daughter back. Preferably without the ability to create a mess with a single step." mommy teased, shoving daddy and Marinette towards the bathroom._

_"I call rubber duck!" Marinette yelled over daddy's own voice trying to call for the same thing._

The laughter faded into screams as Marinette slowly opened her eyes. Tikki hovered over her, paws tapping a nervous rhythm. "Marinette! Thank Heaven!" the Kwami shouted, darting to her charges face to hug her cheek.

Marinette sat up in her bed, bringing a hand to her face to gently pet the Kwami. "Tikki? What happened?" she asked sleepily, getting up to stretch.

"Don't go to sleep! You'll be trapped again!" Tikki stated, flying around in tight circles.

Marinette thought back to what she remembered before scrambling to a window to see the light of early morning. "I need to get to the Louvre!" She yelled before invoking her transformation.

"I hope Chat fought his way through this," Ladybug said as she swung onto a distant roof.

"Aww, My Lady still cares for me!" His voice called out from somewhere behind her. Ladybug turned to see him hanging from his baton, tail blowing in the wind. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. I'd rather not deal with an unknown Akuma without a form of distraction." Though she said this, on the inside she was sighing in relief. Perhaps she was the only one to be affected by the Akuma.

Chat moved to stand next to her with a swing to his hips. "So how was Marinette?" he asked as he came to a stop just before her.

"What?" Ladybug floundered, searching for an acceptable answer.

"You came out of her house just now. Did you check on her? Is she still there? Is she like the others?" Chat asked all in a frenzy.

"I- Yes, she's still in there. She nearly punched me in the face. That girl is a fighter, literally." Ladybug didn't know where those words came from until she could feel Tikki glare at her through the Miraculous and realized that, as Marinette, she had nearly punched her Kwami. She made a mental note to make raspberry chocolate chip cookies for an apology.

Chat chuckled, a genuine smile appearing on his face that made Ladybug's heart swell. "She certainly is that," he said with a dreamy sigh, leaning against her as he did so. Ladybug just rolled her eyes again as she shoved him away, taking out her yo-yo.

"Now hop along, _minou_. We've got work to do." Ladybug told him before zipping away. She angled her way towards the Louvre, remembering what happened to her under the influence of the Akuma.

As they got closer, they could hear a woman singing a lullaby, its faint traces reaching them as they landed on the Musee du Louvre's rooftop. The flower looked even bigger than what she dreamed, but all Ladybug did was tighten her hold on her yo-yo.

Down below, at the base of the stem, there was a crowd of people facing outwards, as if they were guarding the large flower.

"Do you think I should get Marinette something like this for Valentine's Day?" Chat joked as they assessed the situation.

"As big as your mouth is, I don't think even _you_ could get those chompers around _that_ ," Ladybug replied almost automatically, her eyes focusing on two specific people in the crowd. Nino and Alya were down there, swaying in the flow of the crowd. The two heroes were close enough to see the glassy sheen of their eyes.

It looked like it was raining down upon them, but when Chat Noir had zoomed in on his baton camera, they could see that it was pollen floating down in a snow like fashion. Long tube-like structures were dangling over the crowd, shaking in some invisible wind to sprinkle the pollen upon them.

"Hmm, I see your point _ma coccinelle_. I think I'll stick to chocolates," Chat said as he grabbed her by the waist, pulling her into his body. He extended his baton until they could make out the small figure standing in the middle of the upturned flower. Ladybug felt the swoop of her stomach as they fell towards the center of the massive flower, the faint singing becoming louder and louder.

"Knock knock," Chat said as they landed with a bouncing 'thump' onto the springy material inside the flower. "Hope we're not intruding."

"Floraison doesn't think you two should move closer if you want the people below to live. Floraison thinks you should hand over your Miraculous or else." The Akuma sang, her voice as sweet as sugar.

Ladybug froze and felt Chat do the same beside her. "What makes you think we won't just kick your ass instead?" Ladybug asked, feigning disinterest as she cocked a hip and crossed her arms.

"Floraison has leverage, you see. Floraison did as Papillion asked and captured Chat Noir's girl." Floraison moved her arm in a 'See for yourself' motion, gesturing to the floor slightly behind her to the left. 

The floor peeled open, its movement reminiscent of maggots crawling, to show the unconscious body of Marinette. Ladybug frowned, wondering if this was an illusion. _But how can an Akuma have more than one pow-_ It hit her. She grabbed Chat's arm and pulled them away from where Floraison was smiling at them.

"Chat! It's a dream, Chat." She shook the struggling boy before her. He had his arms outstretched, trying to reach the girl he thought was actually there. Ladybug covered her nose with one hand, wondering how they got hit with the pollen. Wondering if they had even made it the Akuma. Wondering if she had even woken up to begin with.

"Marinette," he whispered softly, his eyes showing fear as he worked against the hands that held him back. 

Ladybug muttered to herself before slapping him in the face, which seemed to snap him out of his panic. She then slapped herself, not holding back in the slightest. They didn't have time to think of happy thoughts to get rid of this dream. They needed to get back to reality as soon as possible.

It was like a bubble stretched around them, pulling the two heroes along until it popped and sent them flying towards consciousness. They awoke to find themselves in mid-air propelling towards the flower. Laughter bounced off invisible walls, grating of Ladybug's nerves.

"Floraison congratulates you on beating the first wave. Floraison did not think both of you would make it. Come heroes, join Floraison." The singing was offputting, making both her and Chat yawn. So it was a two-part Akuma.

"Chat, her lullaby combined with her pollen makes the dreams possible," Ladybug whispered as they soared through the air. It felt like they were in a state of constant falling. _This might be another dream_ , Ladybug thought to herself, but not aloud.

"I do not like this, Ladybug," Chat said just as quietly. It shocked her that he had used her actual full name, shaking her from her planning just long enough to conclude that if even Chat Noir was serious, then this was as bad as she had hoped it _wouldn't_ be.

"I don't either," she said quickly before angling her body towards him. "And both of us will not like _this_ , as well."

Chat turned his head, a frown on his lips. "What-" Ladybug punched him, jarring him from his spot on the baton. He disappeared, leaving Ladybug alone to fall, only she was now falling straight down instead of at an angle. Cursing, she focused on trying to punch herself out of this dream. Ladybug was starting to feel the effects of three nights of little sleep. This afternoon had been draining enough, but Papillion was not holding back.

The ground was coming up and Ladybug felt a slight reprieve from the constant blue of the sky. _Maybe I can use this_ , she thought, angling her body to descend faster. _Falling dreams only stopped once you landed_. Even with that reasoning she could feel the pressure build up in her ears, could feel her heart in her throat pumping blood to the beat of 'oh my god, oh my god, oh my god'.

She closed her eyes as she could make out the details of individual leaves, her arms automatically coming up to protect her face. Suddenly, she no longer felt the woosh of air, no longer felt her hair slap against her face, no longer felt like she was floating. Suddenly, she was heavy, under the weight of gravity again and sighed in relief.

"You know that hurt, right?" Came from her right, Chat walking towards her as he rubbed his jaw. Ladybug smiled at him. 

"At least, you didn't crash into the ground without a parachute," she said as she looked around the place they had come to. It was a dark cavern, the walls giving off a horrid stench. Ladybug couldn't quite tell what it was, it just made her think _'green'_.

"Touché," Chat replied, walking towards the wall with his hand held out. "Are you going to slap me again? Or punch me? Or harm me in any way without warning?" He asked.

"Hey, I warned you the last time." Ladybug defended, walking over to where he was. Chat's hand had made a squishing sound as it came into contact with the wall.

"Yeah, if that's what you want to call it," she heard him mumble. Ladybug just poked his bell before taking a closer look at the wall in front of them. It was weird looking, rigid yet firm at the same time. She touched it, feeling the dampness of it underneath the fabric of her suit.

Ladybug took a step back before punching the wall, watching as her fist was slowly sucked into it. She tried to pull her hand out, but the suction was too great, she was being dragged in. Chat yelped, yanking on her other arm as Ladybug was being sucked in the wall at a faster rate the more she was inside.

Her head felt like it was being squished like a grape and she could now sympathize with her pimples. Ladybug felt her eyes were going to pop out of her head due to the pressure, and then she was through to the other side, feeling like she had just been born and in need of therapy.

"Ladybug, I think I'm stuck," Chat said behind her before another yelp and a crash told her that he was no longer trapped. She didn't stop to see him get up, her attention on the figure in front of her, who was daintily dancing to a song only she could hear.

"Floraison is surprised you have made it this far. Floraison does not like that you have done so, so Floraison is through with playing games. Hand over your Miraculous or Floraison will get serious." The Akuma sung, not stopping as she glided through the air.

Ladybug could feel the heat of her glare from several feet away, but refused to take a step back as her flight-or-fight instinct reared its head. She could see Chat tense up beside her and was reminded of the first dream they were under. She felt a trickling down her spine but ignored it as she walked towards where Floraison was still dancing.

"You know what I think? I think you hide behind your dreams because you are too afraid to face us yourself." Ladybug threw at her as she clutched her yo-yo, ready for any sudden movements Floraison would make.

The Akuma just paused, her hands stopping in the air, hanging as if attached to marionette strings. "You think Floraison is scared of the likes of you?" she sneered, her face finally cracking from the gentle smile that had been a constant presence.

Ladybug grinned. " _Ladybug_ thinks Floraison is scared," she mocked before calling upon her Lucky Charm. What dropped down in her hands was a super soaker gun. She pumped it before looking around to see what she could do.

Floraison growled, the place around them shaking as vines detached from the walls to sharpen and dart at them quickly. Ladybug rolled to the side. "Chat!" she called, not needing to explain further. They were used to only saying each other's names and having the meaning come across.

Ladybug ducked and rolled and jumped and ran as more and more vines came after her. She made her way around where Floraison was dancing sharply in circles, each time one of her limbs jutted out harshly a vine would form away from the wall and move off in the same direction. She could tell Floraison was getting angrier and angrier the more she missed, and Chat's taunting and teasing as he slipped and danced his way around the vines were fanning the fire.

Floraison jerked her arms up, her hands imitating claws and suddenly the floor beneath them was raising to meet the ceiling of the cavern they were in. Ladybug and Chat dove for cover beneath the same vines who, moments before, were trying to kill them.

When they broke through the roof, Ladybug saw that they were on top of the giant flower. _Great, back to where we started_ , she thought as she jumped away from the ground, which was trying to suck her into the maggot-like substance. 

Chat jumped into her peripheral where she saw him fighting off human-sized flowers that were walking on legs made out of their roots, their arms were made from the leaves from their stem. She needed to end this fast. Ladybug turned the barrel of the super soaker towards the hole that had opened up to try to trap her and shot off a small stream of water. 

The flower people, temporarily distracted by the water, were hit across the stamen by Chat's baton. He sent them flying into more flower people, which made Ladybug realize they were surrounded. She lured as many as she could, using as little water as she could, towards the hole and watched them fall in, one after the other. They didn't seem to think for themselves, which boded well for her and Chat.

Floraison moved her arms around like a conductor, trying to regain control of her puppets as they broke formation to get a sip of water. Chat mowed down the rest that stayed loyal to the Akuma, getting closer and closer to the girl. 

"It's her watch!" Chat shouted as he moved closer towards the enraged Akuma.

"Floraison will _not_ fail!" she shouted as she clapped her hands together. The petals of the flower they were standing in obeyed her order, curling inwards to pierce the stamen's middle, shutting out the light. The flower people collapsed to the ground, useless without direct sunlight.

"Chat, I'm going to need you to be my eyes," Ladybug called out trying to blink the spots from her sight as her eyes adjusted to the almost total darkness the petals brought.

"Certainly, my Lady," he responded, taking her elbow before leading her to face Floraison who was struggling against the affects of loss of sunlight herself.

"Dead center," Chat whispered, stepping to the side and ready to run at a moments notice. Ladybug waited until she could see the faint outline of the Akuma before firing the rest of the water directly at Floraison, Chat shot off as soon as he heard the release of water, fingers twitching in anticipation.

Ladybug wasted no time in dropping the water gun to grab her yo-yo, trusting Chat's fast feet and even faster hands.

"Heads up!" was called a second later, before she heard something land at her feet. Ladybug broke the watch face with a thrust of her heel, releasing the Akuma which was soon captured and purified. Ladybug tossed the super soaker in the air yelling, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Chat watched as the flower they stood on slowly shrank until they were on solid ground. The flower people turning to actual people, and he recognized a few from the crowd that had been guarding the base of the giant flower. He turned to where Ladybug was bent over, her hands on her knees as she took deep breaths.

"Are you alright, my Lady?" he asked as her Miraculous beeped out a warning. Chat realised that this was now the third time that they had fought an Akuma in the span of several hours. The only reason he wasn't as tired was because he hadn't used Cataclysm even once.

"Sorry, stupid question. I take it back," he said quickly before she could respond. Ladybug just huffed, smiling weakly as she lifted her head.

"I'll see you soon, Chat," she said in lieu of an answer.

"Hopefully not _too_ soon, though," Chat shot back, grinning and waving her away. He could deal with the confused victims on his own. He just hoped that Ladybug would get some sleep after this.  
\--  
Marinette leaned heavily against a random brick wall in the alley she ducked down to change back. 

"Come," Tikki said as she yanked slightly on the coin purse to pull her tired charge off into the empty street. "Let's get you home and into bed."

"Hmm, bed," Marinette mumbled, wishing she could just forget about the butt-load of school work piled up on her desk. Wishing she could just sleep a full night without worrying about anything coming up.

_**"I can help you with that, my dear child,"**_ a soothing voice called out. Marinette looked around for its source but she was alone. Not even Tikki was by her side.

"Who are you?" she asked as she felt her head get heavier. Her limbs feeling like lead as she sank to her knees.

_**"Marinette, it's so good to meet you at last,"**_ the voice echoed around her skull. It was the last thing she heard before the world around her went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Floraison reminded me of Juvia from Fairy Tail, so I had her talk like Juvia
> 
> ALSO: do you guys want me to make an update post on tumblr?? just let me know!!
> 
> ma coccinelle= my ladybug


	10. Ballon Rouge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette gets Akumatized and Chat has to fight his girlfriend. This shouldn't be awkward at all whatsoever...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, hey guys, so so so so sorry for the YIKES! THREE MONTH gap between the ninth chapter and this one. MAJOR writers block, like I had NO motivation to write this chapter. I had part of it written, but it was NOT GOOD AT ALL, so i had to start over from scratch and that was draining the life out of me, like seriously, i was NOT happy with anything i typed. Needless to say, i will make sure the next chapter doens't take three months. it'll only take two, no i KID!!

Marinette sat in class, the sound of the clock grew louder until the teacher's voice was lost in between the ticks. She looked around at her classmates, but they sat stiffly, backs straight and eyes forward. The posture-perfect students' faces gave nothing away, it was like they were dolls.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The clock drowned out Marinette's thoughts, her eyes closing tightly trying to block the persistent clock. She moves to put her hands to her ears, but it's like she's glued in place, her arms perfectly positioned on the desk before her like her fellow classmates. She turns to call out to Alya, but her voice catches in her throat, panic follows it. She struggles in vain, her heart rate picking up to echo the deafening rhythm of the clock.

Suddenly Alya turns her head to face her, but it wasn't her friend's face that greeted her. Alya's skin was a vibrant pink-purple swirl, almost glowing. Her eyes were a toxic blue, the light almost blinding Marinette as she stared into their depths, searching for a sign that Alya was in there. 

It was the mouth of the monster that had her blood run cold, though. The lips were twisted up in a cruel smile, the skin around them stretching almost painfully so against the stitching clamping them shut.

"Do not worry, Dear One," a voice sounding very much like her own came from Not-Alya's mouth. Marinette wanted to scream, but it, too, was trapped, her throat a cage to her panic.

"Yes, there is no more need to worry." Marinette's head whipped around, looking on in horror as Adrien and Nino's heads turned in synch, like an owl's. The same Not-Alya's face stared back at her in double.

"There is no more need for any worry at all." The voice echoed around her, and Marinette knew without looking that the faces of her classmates were all gone to be replaced by the monster before her.

"You think me a mere monster, Dear One," Not-Adrien said, the cruel smile sliding into a grin. Marinette felt the pain of the stitching tearing into its lips, she could taste the blood pouring from the wounds.

"Why not look into the mirror of Truth and see," Not-Nino said, picking up where Not-Adrien left off, the mirrored grin looking almost feral.

"That you and I are not different," Not-Alya continued.

"We are the same," the whole class told her, even the teacher turned around to reveal her own satisfied smirk. They picked up on the last word, repeating it over and over as, one by one, they left their seats and moved to circle around where she sat. The chanting made her dizzy and she felt more than heard them pound out their anthem until the room faded from view and she woke to find herself sat in a movie theatre.

She was in the second row, a big bowl of popcorn plopped in her lap. The movie screen lit up and started counting down from twenty and Marinette could hear the movie reel turning as if she were right next to the projector. She tried moving from the seat, but, like before, she was glued to the spot.

A neon pink-purple hand shot out in front of her to grab a handful of popcorn making Marinette jerk her head to see the monster from class sitting next to her. It shoved the popcorn against its closed mouth as if it was just going through the motions of eating.

"I think this will make you see the Truth, Dear One," it said, its voice remarkably gentle in tone as it turned towards the screen in time to see the 2, 1. 

Marinette looked to see a bustling view of Paris before the camera panned to a man in a sharp business suit on the phone, his free hand waving erratically and his face flushed with anger. "Do not let your worries get to you," the monster said, its voice coming, not from the body sitting next to her, but from the screen.

Her fingers twitched as a red balloon filled the screen before floating towards the enraged man, popping upon impact. The man instantly relaxed, his hands dropping to his sides and his face going blank. He then started to rise into the air, but he didn't notice. Marinette wanted to stop him, to reach through the screen and yank him back down to the ground, instinctively knowing that if he continued his path he would die, but she couldn't move.

Marinette struggled despite her previous results getting her nowhere. The popcorn bowl suddenly fell to the floor, the monster turning her gaze from the screen to look down at it, a frown marring its face. It slowly reached out towards it, almost hesitantly, before setting the now empty bowl back into Marinette's lap.

She watched as more and more people were sent floating into the sky until the camera showed a teenaged boy lounging on the steps of a public park, earbuds in. Marinette watched as a balloon was sent to him, expecting him to fly away like the others, but this balloon was different. This balloon made the teens face twist into a worried pinch, the ground beneath him buckling as he grew heavy with worry.

Once again, the popcorn bowl fell off her lap, landing noisily on the floor. The monster didn't even look away from the screen as it put the bowl back in Marinette's lap. She was regaining control of her limbs; She could tell by the way the monster frowned, could tell by the way the camera jostled on the screen, could tell by the screams growing in volume, replacing the shuffling of the projector. Marinette was fighting back.

Just in time, too, because the camera was showing her school. She wished she was stronger, wished she could stop the horrors she saw being played out before her, and when Ivan started to float away, his face blank as Mylene tried to hold his hand to be his anchor, Marinette knew enough was enough. She threw the popcorn bowl at the monster, her upper half free from the invisible bindings that held her down.

"STOP!" Marinette screamed, tears running down her face. "They're my _friends_!"

"Oh, my Dear One, you have much to learn," the monster sighed. The theatre was devoid of seats except for the one that she was still trapped in. The monster stood to her left, it brushing the popcorn off the midnight black dress it wore. She could see red balloons floating lazily floating across the dress, it's pattern reminding her of Anti-Bug, making bile rise up in her throat, though that, too, was stuck there.

Marinette struggled against the seat, not paying attention to the monster walking to her, nor the horrible things happening on the screen. It was only when she heard the pained gurgle, "Marinette?" did she look up. On the screen was Alya, her face twisted in pain as tears flowed down her face.

"No. Ballon Rouge is in control now." Marinette gasped, her movements stilling as she finally realized what was happening.

_"Marinette, it's so good to meet you at last."_

She remembers and she doesn't want to.

"I tried to help you, Dear One," the monster- No, it was her as an Akuma- told her, laying a gentle neon hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, god, Marinette!" Alya's voice broke Marinette's panic fog, making her realize she had to take action or she would hurt her best friend.

"Smile," both Ballon Rouge's said, one to Marinette, the other to her crying friend. "Do not let your worries get to you." A red balloon emerged from their hands as they took a step towards them both.

"No," Marinette whispered, suddenly on her feet. The room started spinning as she yelled again, charging her Akuma self, grabbing at the hand that held the balloon, her fingernails digging into the flesh harshly. As soon as she did, the theatre winked out of existence and she was now in control of her Akuma body. Looking up from her bleeding forearm she saw Alya's face of confusion.

"RUN!" she yelled before taking her own advice, feeling her shaky hold of control weakening. She had to get as far from her friends before she hurt another. She had to go somewhere where there were no people. She needed to- Ballon Rouge yanked its arm from her grasp, stopping to hover in the air as she did so. Marinette felt herself being shoved aside, her head aching from the split.

She needed to get Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses. Ballon Rouge flew dreamily towards a busy street, flinging balloons at random bypassers. Marinette felt a wall between her and Ballon Rouge, she kicked and punched at it, screaming at the top of her lungs. Ballon Rouge spared her a glance.

"I tried to be nice about it, Dear One, but now I have work to do," Ballon Rouge said dismissively. Marinette just continued to bang on the wall until cracks appeared and she shot her hand through it, barely grasping her Akuma self's dress and yanked as hard as she could, sending the both of them careening towards the ground.  
\--  
Chat Noir watched as the Akuma froze in the air before it hurtled to the ground. At first, he thought it was going after a person, but then it crashed into a building and fell to the ground below, cratering the cement. Chat cautiously went to where it fell, looking over the lip just as a hand shot out and grabbed his ankle.

He jumped back a couple of feet, looking on in horror as the Akuma crawled up out of the hole, its image jumping between the black and red dress to the heart-shatteringly familiar outfit of Marinette's. 

"No," he whispered, his face pale as the Akuma smirked at him, blood dripping from her mouth and arm.

"Do not worry or fear, _mon mimi_ ," it said, with _her_ voice. Chat clenched his jaw, every muscle in his body tensing, the hairs on the back of his neck rising as if he were an actual cat.

Suddenly her face turned into a scowl before she launched herself away. He could have sworn she muttered something about not hurting him. He watched her go, his feet feeling leaden in his boots. He had to go after her, but he couldn't find the will to. His eyes misted.

"CHAT!" he heard from behind him. Alya ran in front of him, out of breath, tears streaking down her face. "Marinette- she's..."

"I know," he said softly, eyes downcast.

"No!" Alya shouted. "She's fighting _back_." Her eyes were so full of hope even as they continued to shed tears.

Chat looked at her, his face grim. "I _know_." It came out harshly, more so than he intended.

"Then _why_ are you treating this like it's the end of the world?! It's a _good_ thing!" Alya said, wiping her face as she did, her eyes never leaving Chat, never wavering in the hope that showed.

He didn't respond, just stared into her eyes, hoping she could glean what he was thinking. She just shook her head. He took a breath.

"Akumatized people usually forget what they do in that state, but since she's fighting it, and I am who I am...," he petered off, not wanting to really think about what he had to do. He wishes Ladybug were here right now, he could really use her strength right about now, her confidence.

"Oh, Adrien," Alya whispered, she hugged him, which made his tears come back.

"I have to go," he said, voice tight from holding back his tears. "I need to stop her from hurting more citizens." He reached for his baton, but before he could equip it, a small voice calls out his name.  
\--  
Tikki was sipping from one street to the next, trying not to be spotted as chaos reigned around her. She had to find Chat Noir and help him purify the Akuma taking over her Marinette. She felt tears threatening to fall at that thought. Poor Marinette.

Her young charge had been under a lot of stress lately, and now Papillion was torturing her even further. Tikki felt her jaw clench, her muscles protesting the unfamiliar gesture. The Kwami had not felt such a wrath take over her since the days of gods and idols.

She suddenly heard Chat Noir's voice and flew as fast as she could towards the sound. "CHAT!" she called out, barely stopping herself from ramming straight into the Parisian Hero.

"Uh...Yes?" he asked, not quite sure how to respond to the small flying red dot. Tikki smiled gently, flying up to get to his eye level.

"It's me!" she said, waving her arms around with a little flourish. Hopefully, she could get out of this without lying too much. 

The young boy took a step back, his eyes going wide as he connected the wrong dots to lead to the conclusion that the Kwami wanted him to make. She wondered if he would be mad at 'Ladybug' for being turned tiny.

" _LADYBUG_??!!"

"Oh, my GOD! You are _so cute!_ "

Tikki turned at the sound of another voice, her eyes widening as she looked at Alya, Marinette's best friend. She silently cursed to herself as she smiled a little maniacally at the young blogger.

"Listen," she said, turning back to Chat. "I'm sorry to have to say this, but you're going to have to fight Mari- Ballon Rouge," She cut off saying her charges name, it catching in her throat. 

"I can't exactly help when I'm like this, but if you free the Akuma, I can purify it." She gazed up at Chat, an apology in her eyes. A flash took her by surprise, making her blink before she looked over to where Alya was holding up her phone, a sheepish smile on her face.

"Sorry, couldn't resist." She shrugged, before moving in and taking a selfie with all three of them. "I wasn't going to post M- this Akuma, so I may as well have _some_ thing to show my viewers."

Tikki just shook her head, catching Chat Noir's eye as they shared a look of fond exasperation before his turned to despair.

"I don't know if I can, LB," his voice as small as he felt. "I don't know if I can fight her if I can hurt her," he said, his voice cracking as he said 'hurt'.

Tikki laid a paw on his cheek, the only amount of comfort she could give him. "I'll help you as much as I can, but you have to remember that you are ultimately saving her, freeing her from Papillion's clutches." Chat Noir sniffed and nodded, rubbing at his eyes to get rid of his tears. It didn't really work, but he felt a little better, at least.

"Okay, let's go save her." He gave Alya a determined look, twirling the baton in his hands before extending it to take him up to a nearby roof.

"Good luck!" Alya shouted as the two heroes disappeared from sight. She looked down at her phone, clutching it tighter in her grasp as she saw her background picture look back up at her. It was a picture of her a Mari at the beach, their faces scrunched up to look silly.

"Bring her back safe."  
\--  
Chat landed behind her, his hands shaking as he gripped his baton, not really wanting to fight her despite Ladybugs' placation. He took a deep breath before taking a step toward her. He didn't make a sound, but she turned towards him anyways, and all the air he had just acquired left him, the tears he had pushed down coming back up to the surface. 

"Oh, Marinette," he whispered, which made her jerk. Half of her face smiled toothily stretching the already tight thread that ran zigzagged across her lips, a playful glint in her eyes.

"Come to stop me, _mon mimi_?" the Akuma taunted him, using _her_ nickname for him. Chat gripped his baton tighter, gritting his teeth as he bared them at her. He didn't say anything in response, his mind far too gone to the turmoil to think of a proper comeback. Ladybug popped up beside him, which made Ballon Rouge's eyes go wide, her form shifting to that of Marinette for a couple of seconds before going back to the black dress, the bright red balloons on it swirling in an odd pattern.

"Three versus one is a little unfair, do you not think so?" Ballon Rouge said haltingly as she back up and a balloon appeared in her right hand, only to have him dodge it, the balloon lodging itself into a nearby building.

"Worried?" Ladybug asked her, her small voice somehow conveying contempt. Chat smiled at the quip, which seemed to urge Ballon Rouge on. She held out her left hand, palm to the air, as three balloons popped into existence to hover over her hand, rotating in a circle.

Chat readied his baton, braced on the balls of his feet for impact or to jump out of the way, as the balloons began to spin faster and faster until they blurred together. He had trouble reading her, her face looked so much like Marinette's yet was so different at the same time.

"Fine, then," Ballon said, her eyes crackling with blue energy. "I guess I will just have to even the playing field." And then, faster than he could see, the balloons split and arched towards him and Ladybug. He tumbled forward, thrusting his baton up into her gut on muscle memory. The Akuma took it in stride, smiling down at him as she grabbed the tip of the baton, twisting her body as if she were swinging a bat and tossed him into the air.

Chat turned so that he landed on the balls of his feet, dodging a red blur that embedded itself into the wall inches from his face. He huffed a breath, steeling himself for a bigger fight than he thought. He knew Marinette was a tough girl, but her Akuma self was reminiscent of the way Ladybug moved.

Ballon Rouge frowned as she threw another balloon that went wide. "Silly girl," she muttered, her limbs jerking and halting. "I am only trying to help you, Dear One."

"No thanks," Ballon said with contempt, and Chat knew that Marinette was the one speaking. It was odd to see a person argue with themselves, it was even weirder to see them fight themselves. Chat didn't want to hurt Marinette, but it seemed she held no such worries because she was not holding back her punches and neither was the Akuma despite what she had said about trying to help.

Chat and Ballon Rouge traded blows back and forth with the mini-Ladybug weaving in between the two trying to figure out where the Akuma was hiding. He was impressed with how well she blocked his hits, sometimes even moving to block them before he even saw a move all the way through. He was weakening, he knew, mini-Ladybug knew it, and the Akuma knew it judging by the smirk on her face.

He went to dodge a blow and was throw off by a kick which flung him halfway down the street. Instead of getting up, though, he just stayed there trying to catch his breath, trying not to blame Ladybug for being shrunk down and being of no use, trying to come up with some sort of solution.

"Laying down on the job?" Ballon Rouge taunted, walking slowly towards him. Chat rolled onto his knees, panting, scrambling for his baton. She kicked it away from him just as his fingertips touched it, looming over him as she raised an arm, the red balloon looking oddly cheery despite the situation. He looked up at her, his eyes filled with tears, his mouth filled with blood.

She froze for a second, her eyes widened and her arm lowered a fraction before she swung it down swiftly. Chat braced for impact, only to hear a crash and mini-Ladybug shouting Marinette's name. She had popped the balloon on herself and was now being crushed under the weight of gravity. Her Akuma form flickered until Marinette's signature purse was showing, their eyes meeting as she held it out to him.

He ripped it up as soon as he understood what she meant, the Akuma vanishing into mini-Ladybugs' mouth without any preamble. She chewed furiously, her eyes closed as she concentrated, the dots across her body glowing a bright pink before she opened her mouth and a white butterfly flew out along with Ladybugs' Miraculous Light. 

As soon as everything was put back to normal Chat ran straight to Marinette's prone form grateful for the healing aspect of Ladybug's power. He cradled her in his arms as she began to stir, pushing back her hair from her face. He heard footsteps and turned, expecting Ladybug to be there, but it was Alya, her hair wild as she came to an abrupt stop beside them.

"Is she okay?" she asked breathily, kneeling down to touch Marinette, who's face was scrunched up as she slowly woke. Smacking her lips, she looked around to see Alya and Chat staring down at her worriedly.

"Hello," she said weakly, sitting up with the help of Chat. "Wh- um...What happened?"

Chat let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, immediately relieved that she didn't have any memories of him hurting her. Alya was going through the same thing if her relieved laugh was anything to go by.

Marinette was engulfed in a hug by her best friend who was crying. "You became an Akuma. A really badass one, if I may say so." Marinette went pale as she was hit with the news. She looked at Chat over Alya's shoulder, her eyes asking both a question and dreading the answer. He gently smiled, forgiveness in his gaze. She shook her head, clutching Alya tighter to her, crying herself as a crowd began to gather.

Chat Noir stood up, going over to where his baton lay before turning back to the two girls. " _Mesdemoiselles_ , I will take my leave now." He bowed, eyes lingering on Marinette before jumping onto a nearby rooftop and running in a random direction.  
\--  
Marinette sat on her bed, tissues surrounding her, feeling as if this is all she did anymore. Alya went home at the insistence of Marinette, who claimed she was fine if a little embarrassed about being turned into an Akuma and that she attacked people. If she was being honest with herself, she was just waiting for Chat Noir to visit, she needed his comforting presence. She also needed to know if he was going to be angry at Ladybug again. Tikki explained what she did, but, if Marinette was put in Chat's position, she would hate herself for getting 'caught' and being basically useless in the fight. If she was being even more honest, she _did_ hate herself.

Chat knocking on her window pulled her from her funk, and him wrapping her in a big hug pulled her from her worrying. They stood there, in the middle of her room, for a good ten minutes, rocking slightly back and forth as he rubbed her back and she clutched to his.

"I'm sorry," she said, breaking the silence and the hug in one go, settling on the edge of her bed and crossing her arms, folding in on herself.

"You don't have to say you're sorry," he said softly as he sat next to her, bumping his shoulder to hers gently.

Marinette nodded harshly. "Oh, but I do. I'm so sorry for hurting you, for- for saying the things I did-"

"So you do remember," he interrupted, turning to her. She shook her head without looking at him.

"No, but....well, the Akuma's always say taunts and the like, don't they?" she asked as she reached for a tissue. Chat took that opportunity to hold onto her other hand, forcing her to face him. She didn't give him time to answer her question, though.

"I'm just, I guess I'm sorry for everything. Especially for what I'm going to do," she said softly, briefly making eye contact with him before looking down at her bedsheets.

"It's okay," he told her, rubbing his thumb in circles on the back of her hand.

"It's not, though. Really, Chat, it's not," she said, talking over his protestations. "I'm- I'm trying to break up with you." Her voice cracked and she tried to take her hand back, but he held tightly onto it. With the other, he cupped her cheek and got her to look at him. He smiled sadly, his eyes full of tears and understanding.

"I know. And it's okay."

"How?" she asks, her throat tight so it came out as a croak. She cried as she looked at him, knowing his heart was breaking but he was still trying to comfort her.

"Because I can wait. For however long you need me to, I will wait for you." Marinette bawled when he finished, her hands clawing at his suit as she balled them into fists.

"I can't make you wait for me." She barely got the words out, the lump in her throat making even breathing difficult.

"You're not making me do anything. _I'm_ the one who is making this decision, okay?" She nods, biting back a response. He made his choice and she would just have to respect it, just as he was doing right now for her.

He laid her back onto her bed, tucked her in and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Remember, I will always come when you call." And with that, he was gone and she was alone with her thoughts. Tikki snuggled up under her chin, she was out like a light, the poor Kwami. She had had a difficult day, they all had.

When she was sure she was not going to be overheard by anyone, Marinette took her duvet and went out onto the balcony, relishing the cold night air on her face. She was still crying, the tears coming out in streams, but she didn't wipe them away, there wouldn't be a point to it. So she just sat there, gazing at the stars and crying, trying not to remember what she desperately wanted to forget, but as sleep took over, she succumbed to the memories of what had transpired today.

She had lied to them all, she remembered every single thing that had happened when she was an Akuma. Every person she had hurt, every word she flung at Chat, everything. But she didn't want to. Because with the memories of her actions came the emotions behind those actions. Marinette felt each rush of joy as her Akuma self reveled in the screams she caused, felt her mouth twist into a cruel smile as a person was pummeled into the ground or tossed into the air, loving the chaos she had caused.

She still felt those emotions, could feel the ghost of a smile as she flung Chat Noir into a building. She _liked_ hurting those people, hurting her partner, relished in the fear and panic caused by her Akuma self. Marinette didn't have anyone to talk to about this, she didn't want Chat or Alya to know how she felt, how she _still_ feels, hoping that they would be gone by the morning. If they weren't, though, she didn't know what she would do.

Tikki would be her best bet, but she hadn't wanted to worry her Kwami any. None of the other Akuma victims had shared a similar experience, except for maybe the recent ones who Papillion had targeted, but they only remembered those feelings as vague recollections, nothing like the constant buzz under her skin. 

Marinette sighed, moving to go back inside. She paused as she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, her heart rate picking up as she clutched her duvet closer to her as if that would help any. When it turned out to be a simple butterfly, she sighed, she was obviously too tired to be up anymore if she saw a threat in a common French butterfly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so if the break up scene sounded vaguely familiar it's because i stole it from Teen Wolf, with my own spin, because i hated that scott said he was totes fine with allison breaking up with him but then kissed her RIGHT ON THE MOUTH??!!! thats just a no, you are not dating her anymore son, so you don't get to kiss her, so yes, i am still bitter about it, but i will not apologize for it. now then, i am once again going to apologize for the long wait and also for not caring enough to seriously google a common butterfly in France. *shrugs*


End file.
